The Mobian Adventures: Freedom
by ZiGeNaToR
Summary: The Sequel to the Events in 'The Mobian Adventures: Beginning', we find out just how Sonic & Amy plan to save Mobius. Fan-Submmitted O.C.'s are found in here, as well as 'M' themes. Much love to the fans that badgered me to death to release this.  OH, been on a month hiatus, long dilemma... sorry, regular updates inbound
1. Rough Steps

**Author's Note:**

**Here it is. I promised to sequel it, and ... well ... yeah. first, i want to thank people who submitted their ideas and shizzle to all this. I never once thought when i finished 'The Mobian Adventures: Beginning' that i would get SOOOO much fan mail. Even more so, i got a slew of O.C.'s, locations, and plot ideas to keep this story funky fresh for some time. That being said, two people deserve special recognition for their support. **

**Ultrabot Ultimus The Hedgehog**

**VGCats-Rocks**

**Thanks two those two, i got the bulk of epic elements for this story. That being said, YES i am still main writer and you'll still see my original plot and such going on. Just ... say hello to some original characters and their ... life-stories, events and such. IF the concept of original characters angers you, then please, don't read any further than this. This chapter is the only exempt one from the life of O.C.s**

**Enjoy**

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><p><strong>Rough Steps<strong>

"Ugh…" Sonic said groggily as he rubbed his eyes and sat up. He was in his bed, in his room in what appeared to be morning; hence the sun's light coming through the nearby window. "_What did I do last night?"_ he thought as the memories slowly surfaced

There he was on the beach, hanging out with Amy and friends. He talked to Silver and Blaze about a plan he had to help take down Metal Sonic… but the rest was drawing up a blank.

He heard water running in his bathroom, the sound made as one uses the shower, and the memories slowly rushed back into his head. "Oh… that's right. We laid out our plan and then I was taking Amy home with me… and we passed out in my bed…" he said, unable to remember if they had any sexual encounter

He nervously thought about the slim chance that he may or may not have had sexual intercourse on his twentieth birthday's night, when he noticed a small letter placed on his nightstand. The paper had an ocelot drawn on the back, with two long strikes through the neck, Thoice's calling card. He grabbed it and opened it up to read;

'Hey Sonic, try heading East to the nearby city of, what is now, Metaltropolis. You may remember it as near the 'Hilltop Zone'. Or heck, it had another name too; 'Darkwave' if that rings a bell…

-Thoice'

"Again with the cryptic directions… but at least I have a place to start" he said, putting down the letter and getting out of bed. A sigh of relief rushed through him as he noticed he was still moderately clothed, thus disputing a large amount of the possibility that he had sex. "_Weird… I must be among the first man to be thankful to not of had sex last night"_ he realized as he strolled to the nearby window to look down at the city and contemplate his plan

He told Silver and Blaze that he was going to need help toppling Metal Sonic, but even he didn't know how. He wanted them to go to the west and try to find and destroy some of Metal Sonic's factories and such, hopefully drawing attention from Sonic and Amy's adventure. He hated placing them in such a risky position, but he really had no other choice. "_I just hope they do alright"_ he thought over and over throughout the night.

As for he and Amy, his original plan was to arbitrarily check the cities around Central City and hope to find some evidence of Metal Sonic… but Thoice's letter now was going to streamline that process.

The bathroom door opened, and a wave of steam followed a pink hedgehog carefully wrapped up in a towel. "Hey Sonic, it's all yours" she said coyly as she walked over to his closet and started to pick clothes out for herself.

"Amy… did you place a change of clothes for yourself… in my closet?" he couldn't help but ask

"Well duh silly, if I'm going to be spending so many nights over here, why wouldn't I?" she replied as if it were obvious

"Whatever, I'm going to take a quick shower and then we got to get heading out. Seems Thoice left us a good place to start" he said as he gestured to the letter on the night stand. He then grabbed a pair of clothes to change into and walked into the bathroom to start up the shower. He turned the water up to hot and let the water slowly gain temperature as he looked into the mirror, as if to psych himself up for this adventure.

"_Come on Sonic, you've been on so many adventures, this should be no trouble for you"_ he thought, but was constantly hearing Thoice's voice in his head as he learned that Metal Sonic planned genocide of all living races. He knew his metal copy had an inferiority complex, but he never once thought that this would come from this. To make matters worse, Amy's prediction with her tarot cards constantly made him worried about what friend of his would die in the end. He wanted it to be no one, but sometimes such situations couldn't be avoided.

He mindlessly hoped into the shower, completed his morning rituals and got out all while thinking about what he would do in each case of a friend's death. Some hit him hard, like if Tails or Knuckles died, then what would he do? "_What can I do?"_ he would frequently ask himself. Certain people, like Rouge or Silver were still important to him, but he was less attached to the concept of them dying for some reason. That being said, he wanted no one to die, but wasn't sure on how he would even begin to make that reality happen.

"Sonic, hurry up, your taking longer than a girl" Amy said teasingly beyond the door

"Oh shush you" he said, coming back to reality as he quickly donned his clothes and stepped out of the shower. Amy was lying on the bed, and gestured to him with her finger

"Come on, we got a few minutes" she said teasingly

He thought about it for a second, and succumbed to her seductive will. He cuddled into her and the two kissed and held each other closely, namely just embracing the peace they had now for they both seemed to be able to predict that the future was going to be much rougher than either was ready for.

After a good five minutes of passionate making out, and sexually suggestive behavior, Amy pushed him off and straightened her hair as she said "Ok lover boy, let's get moving" with a wink

"Aw Ames, you keep getting me in the mood and then you remind me that I'm the hero" he laughed, getting up and grabbing his assortment of trinkets he got from his birthday. He slipped on the bracelet that Team Chaotix gave him, donned the shoes Silver gave him, placed the ring Amy gave him over his right ring finger (so that no one would mistake him for married) and slipped the scroll blaze gave him into his pocket, so that he could read it on his down time as he was still incredibly interested in what kind of ancestors he had.

"You ready princess?" she teased, waiting in the door way as he carefully slipped her ring on "And you look so sexy with a ring, should make that a more standard feature of you" she said with a seductive wink

"Maybe one day Ames, but I think only after we topple my crazed arch-nemesis" he replied darkly "Let's get a move on" he remarked as the two jumped out of his window and hit the grind rail. The rode it to the east for a good distance before leaping off to his a rooftop, and then used the roofs to quickly get out of the city.

"Ok, so Thoice said to just head east… you know where this 'Metaltropolis' is?" she asked him as the two bounded between roofs

"Uhm… yes and no. He said it was where Hilltop Zone sort of is and that is all I know" he replied

"Oh… wonder why he said 'near to'…" she pondered aloud

"Knowing Thoice… or heck, Metal Sonic, it can't be for good reason" Sonic said as he winced at the probability that the zone was something drastically different than he originally remembered

The two ran out of the city, as a blue and pink blur and made good time to the east. Sonic realized during this little jog just how much these shoes helped him. The distance they traveled didn't even faze him, in fact, he almost felt insulted at traveling so slow. "_Weird… Thoice was right… these shoes might just be my downfall"_ he smirked as he decided to test just how much they can handle.

He ran over to Amy, who was jogging mindlessly as she took in the beauty of the trail, and slipped her off her feet. She cried out in surprise, but let him continue after she realized what he was going to do. Then, with a smirk on his face, he decided to run as fast as his shoes could handle.

The two ran so fast that Sonic saw the world around him creep to a crawl. The leaves in the tree seemed to almost stop all together, even though they were currently running with the wind. The sun's light seemed to slow down and become more like intermittent bursts of color, causing the sights to occasionally take on a 'colorless' aspect. It was almost too much to comprehend in such a short time, so he slowed back down to a startled Amy pinching him

"Geez, warn me why don't you! I didn't know you were going to break a sound barrier or whatever that was" she said angrily as she leapt out of his arms and continued to jog at her own pace, happy to be back in control

"Sorry Ames, I didn't think these shoes would allow me to go so fast with so little effort…" he replied, looking at the shoes with a nervous glance

"Well learn to use them better, geez. Keep doing dumb things like that and you'll probably tear a whole in the world or something" she said with a joking laugh

"Yeah, you're probably right" he sheepishly chuckled with her, vowing to spend more time trying to understand how these shoes worked.

The two quietly ran the distance, until they came across a zone that brought back some memories for him, the good old sunset forest zone. "Gee, haven't been here for some time" he remarked aloud

"Oh, what did you do here?" she asked

"Truthfully… essentially I raced against Shadow and such" he laughed, remembering their high-speed adventures

"Well, that's cute. Cause now you and me can have a race for good old times" she laughed as she decided to run ahead of him and run along the course.

"_Crazy girl"_ he thought as he chased after her. He let her have the lead for some time, following her and purposely falling short of her. He wanted to build up her confidence, for he felt that he ability to run this fast would prove to only help them in the end.

She soon figured out he was playing with her and this caused her to get angry at him, for some reason or another. She started throwing hammers at Sonic, to encourage him to actually pick up the pace. He dodged them simply enough, but the message was clear. He decided to abuse his shoes and see what he could do.

He started running faster and faster, as he felt the fabric of time slowly bent around him. Amy looked as if she was running in amber, appearing frozen in time as he quickly passed her. He then realized he may have over done it and slowed back down to a normal jog just to see time rapidly be re-applied to her, as she seemed to be picking up her pace again.

She took a double look at Sonic and quickly jumped to conclusions "Hey, no fair! You're not allowed to use chaos control!" she cried out in defeat

"_Good point Ames… this seems to work much like chaos control… I should really be careful with a spin dash"_ he thought, knowing that these shoes would most likely cause some adverse affect with so much speed. "Nope Ames, no chaos control here, just good old fashioned speed" he laughed, gesturing to his shoes

"Ugh! Why couldn't Silver of given those to me!" she cried out in anguish

"Oh come on you" he said, as he slowed down to her pace. She had exerted herself to much and had incurred the penalties of fatigue. She was clearly breathing heavy and looked as if she was ready to pass out. He swung her into his arms and he jogged off with her for a good couple miles, until a nice clearing came up.

"Here's good" she said with a tired voice

"Alright Ames" he said protectively, as he stopped and carefully put her down. As she lay on the ground, panting and just closing her eyes as if to feign trying to sleep. "Ya thirsty for anything?" he asked cautiously

"I could do with some water" she replied, still clearly tired

"Ok, be back in a sec" he said, as he decided to run into the nearby forest to look for a stream to fill up the canteen they brought. "_Why don't we ever fill these things before we leave"_ he thought with a dumb grin on his face

He found a stream out in the forest, after only a few minutes of mindlessly searching. There, standing next to the stream was a figure in a trench coat, leaning against a tree and mindlessly playing some song on some small device. Sonic tried to ignore his presence and fill the bottle, but the tune was far too annoying as it kept having robotic-sounding drops and far too much bass for his liking. "Ya mind turning that down pal?" he asked, still filling the canteen

The music stopped as if interrupted, and Sonic looked up to thank the person when he saw no one was standing there. "Ok… that was definitively weird" he said aloud, looking to where than man could of went off to. Unable to discern any such direction or place of hiding, he decided it was better left unknown and rushed back to give Amy the water.

"Took you long enough" she said with a parched laugh between drinks from the canteen

"Look, Ames, I know you can run fast and all…. But can you do me a favor and stop trying to over exert yourself?" he asked, looking her in the eyes with a tone of seriousness "I mean, I really do care for your safety. So stop trying to impress me with speed faster than mine, and do your best to stay alive" he asked

"Oh alright… but I'm still running" she said defiantly "If I can handle boxcercising, I can handle a light jog with you" she said stubbornly

"Fine, just don't try to go all 'mach 3' on me or anything" he said with a laugh

"Oh, I won't, I hate this feeling. I feel so damn sick and tired, like how you feel after having a cold for like a week" she said, trying to relay just how bad she felt

"I understand, just get some rest. And heck, you can have some of the snacks we brought. I'm just going to check the perimeter and make sure we don't have spies" he said, thinking back to the man playing the odd music.

"Ok, just don't take too long" she said, blowing a kiss to him.

"Me? Take long? Ha" he said with a laugh as he bounded into the forest

He scoured the nearby undergrowth for the loose hope of finding this mysterious stranger, but ultimately found no such thing. He returned saddened by the loss of whatever this person was, but still happy that he and Amy could enjoy some downtime together.

The sun was peaking up in the sky, indicating that the day was roughly three o'clock, but to be sure he took out his phone to check. It read 2:42 p.m. "Damn… close enough" he laughed

"You really brought your phone?" she asked, noticing him checking the time

"Uhm… yeah" he said slowly, curious why it was such a surprise

"Cool. I thought you just brought it so I would shut up about you never being in contact to me" she laughed

"Typically I do" he replied with his own laugh "But naw, I was just checking the time. It's going to such learning that I have no way to charge this" he said

"Yeah… I doubt we will be finding a nice place to bunk tonight" she said slightly saddened

"Honestly, I'm just surprised you didn't bring twelve suitcases on this trip" he laughed as she threw a hammer at him, to which he dodged at the last second

"You sexist dick" she said with a slight chuckle "Come on, we still have to reach this 'Darkwave' before night fall" she said, getting up

"Alright, you want me to carry you?" he asked friendly

"Naw, I got it" she replied and begun jogging off. He watched to make sure that she didn't have a limp or anything, confident she will be able to run on her own, he quickly ran to catch up to her and the two jogged into the east, running along the forest's edge. An eerie melody following them as they continued.

The continued to run until they came to a hillside, where they looked down upon a large and sprawled out city. It easily was twice the size of Central, if not a third take. The entire city seemed to be mechanized, as if someone opened up a watch and exposed all the gears as a city. And even with such a characteristic to the city, Sonic could still pull parralles from it and a normal city.

He could see the stores, he could see the buildings, he saw parks (albeit, entirely mechanized) and he saw the streets. It was just a grand version of Central City, done with gears and springs rather than trees and normal buildings.

"Whoa Ames, you ever see anything like this?" Sonic asked, looking around to see where Hill Top Zone even was anymore, convinced he must have missed it

"It… is something alright. I betcha this is exactly what Thoice meant for us to find" she reaffirmed, stretching her calf muscles out.

"Oh easily, this has 'Metal Sonic' written all over it, despite the distinct lake of his face being everywhere. Easily the biggest difference between him and Eggman." He replied with a laugh

The two lightly jogged down to the city's gates, which towered well above them. Sonic was no math major, but he had ran his fair distance in his life so he looked up and was able to guess it was roughly a good three-hundred meter tall gate. "Why would they need such a large gate?" he whispered to Amy as they got within range

"Maybe they are at war?" she replied, unsure of her own answer

He nodded, but was not convinced. _"Metal Sonic wouldn't make such tall walls if they didn't serve a reason"_ he thought as he looked around. He was able to quickly figure that this giant gate was the only way in or out of the city. But that didn't seem to make sense to Sonic, as that would make trade difficult.

They approached the city's gate, where two incredibly large robots. They had an incredibly large build, as in they were easily three times the size of Big the Cat, and they bellowed steam from vents placed on their chest. They were polished bronze, and carried a very large spear that seemed to cackle with electricity at the tip. Despite their size, they looked as if they could move very fast if need be. "_Gotta be careful, eh? Now this is Metal Sonic's work"_ Sonic grinned

"HALT. WHO GOES THERE?" the one to the left asked, as the two crossed their spears to block the gate's entrance.

"Uhm… we are travelers?" Sonic replied, not sure what else to say

"STATE YOUR RANK!" the one to the right asked, its beady red eyes staring right down at Sonic, as if analyzing him

"_Crap, if they can scan me, they'll know in a matter of seconds"_ he thought madly as his ears picked up some odd sound

Again he heard the sound of heavy bass, mixed with weird electronic sounding gizmo noises. He would never be able to understand what he was listening to, but he did remember Tails explaining to him about new-wave music's such as Dub-step and Techno. Neither worked with Sonic, being one who liked some good old Rock and Grunge, but still.

The sound continued to play, almost getting more aggressive as its pitch seemed to get louder. Sonic covered his ears, as to block the sound out as Amy did the same. The robots jittered for a second, shaking where they stood. Then, as abrupt as it started, the sound ended and the robots continued to stand where they were.

"As you were civilian" the robots said, as they slowly drew their weapons from the gate's entrance, thus allowing Amy and Sonic entrance. They didn't question what happened, they just walked inside and tried to blend in.

"What just happened?" Amy whispered

"No idea… but it helped, right" he replied

They walked inside, and were blown away by just what they saw. The city was more than just gears and springs, the people were too. Everyone was either a full-robot, designed to look like an animal or part-animal with robotic parts over-lapping them. They mingled in the streets, mocking the civilization the hedgehogs came from.

They were out in front of coffee shops, drinking what looked like coffee. They walked the streets with their polite clothes and kind personalities. Stores had gears and clocks parts in the windows, as if they were clothing items. Mannequins were outfitted with gears and springs with signs like 'the spring style' with them.

It was almost too much for Sonic, who loved nature and tended to abhor this, much technology in one place. It was giving him a bad vibe, namely cause he didn't see anyone else who was completely organic. "Yo Ames, have you seen anyone who wasn't a robot?" he whispered

"Uhm… no…" she said, her eyes just panning over the city.

A robotic hedgehog walked up to them and tipped his robotic hat to them and said "Greetings newcomers. My, are you in the current 'flesh-simulation' outfits. Damn, those are convincing" he said with a laugh

"Uhm… yeah" Sonic said "Yeah, that's us. Trying out the newest model. Ya like it?" he asked sarcastically

"Like it? I love it. Gee, almost makes me miss the good 'ol days" the man said as he then walked off to the crowd

Sonic and Amy decided to leave the middle of the street and mingle into the crowd. They went to the loca coffee shop and took a seat. Their waitress, a half-robo fox came to them and asked "So, what'll it be?"

"Can we get a menu?" Amy asked

"Oh, of course" the fox replied as she printed a menu from her chest "Here you go"

Amy gingerly grabbed it, still weirded out by what just happened and read. "Uhm, I'll take some mineral water. And so will he" she said, ordering for Sonic

"Alrighty" she replied, grabbing back the menu. She then left to the establishment and returned in matter of seconds with two tall cups of water. "That'll be three hundred rings" she stated

Sonic threw her the rings and accepted the drink. The fox left, leaving Sonic and Amy to drink and talk about all this in peace.

"So… what is your take on this so far?" she asked

"Metal Sonic is up to something. The people here are far too happy…" he said, unable to shake the feeling.

"Yeah… I agree. But what are we to do? We can't just liberate an entire city based on our feelings. If these people are actually happy, shouldn't we let them continue?" she asked

"Yes… typically I'd agree. But what if Metal Sonic is controlling them with some kind of mind-control device or something. I mean… they are all part robot, to some degree…." He begun to say

"Yeah. I'm just amazed there is no one else here who isn't a robot…." She agreed

Some loud cheering and chanting was heard down the street, as some type of buzzer was being played. It sounded climatic, as if someone was distilling pure fun into sound. Sonic couldn't help but grin at the sound, when Amy gave him a look.

"Why are you smiling so weird?" she asked

"I… don't know. But I just feel happier…" he said, unable to reason why

"Weird…. What is all that commotion about" she stated as she got up and took Sonic with her

The two walked down to the crowd where people were hooting and hollering. Something was being said, but so many voices were overlapping that Sonic couldn't dare make it out. "Excuse me sir, what is this all about" he asked some robotic otter

"Oh, it's the arena. Today is a Wednesday, which means it's time for the battle" he said happily and went back to the conversation

"ARENA?" Sonic asked right at Amy, unable to figure if he should be angry or happy

"Yeah… want to watch. I mean, we got nothing else better to do" she said, unsure of why Thoice would send them here

"I guess… We can at least figure what Metal Sonic does for these arena fights" he replied. The two walked in the line to where ever these people were heading

A good few blocks later, they turned out of the alleyways and streets and their destination was completely obvious. It was an incredibly large coliseum, made out of gears and so forth like the rest of the city. It was a marvel of how beautiful it looked, always ticking away and changing its angles and… well so forth. Sonic couldn't help but admire it, almost wishing he brought Tails along just for this.

"Impressive, isn't it" Amy whispered

"I'd say. At least Metal Sonic can do decent cities" he replied, still on his guard

The crowd funneled inside, where there were seats all around a oval arena. The ground of the arena was in sand, but there were odd depressions in the sand, as if panels were hidden underneath them. "_So he can change the field at will, eh? Impressive"_ Sonic thought, already having dealt with those kinds of things so many times in his past.

They took their seat between a robotic chicken and a half-robo wolf. The crowd was cheering and talking loudly, but nothing was discernible. About a good three minutes passed when the giant hologram appeared over the arena's base floor.

'Greetings… Welcome to the twenty-fifth arena duel of the year … Put your hands together for … ROUND 1…' Came across the screen, as scrolling text

"Really… that's all it takes to announce now-a-days?" Sonic asked

"I guess so, I just hope it isn't violent" Amy said

From four separate rooms on the ground floor, opened doors. From the doors came what would be the fighters. They were all fully robotic wolfs. They were painted in obvious colors thought, a green, red, blue and orange respectively. They came to the middle of the arena and looked at each other with odd intent in their eyes.

"Wait… are they going to…" she begun to ask as the bulletin came up again

'Four enter … One leaves. Round, Match, Begin …' scrolled across

The wolves howled at each other and rushed at one-another. The blue one charged the orange one. The orange went for red, red went for orange. The green one went to ambush the blue. Red and orange clashed in the middle, swinging their claws down upon each other, the sound of metal being racked echoing throughout the stadium. Blue almost reached the two, when green pounced upon him.

Green hacked away at the blue on, tearing away at his chest plate. Blue struggled, and tried to kick the green wolf off but to no avail. After a few moments, blue lay limp and beaten. Green punched through the chest cavity and took out some giant electric battery-looking thing. Then he rushed to go ambush the remaining fighters

During that time, orange had broken the red wolf's leg, giving him a distinct limp. Red, on the other hand, had broken an arm of orange, leaving him with a dangling limp that flopped useless from his torso. Green saw the situations and took red first, tacking him and punching through his chest. Red exploded after green leapt from him, and charged orange.

Orange rolled from green's attack, and swept at the wolf's legs. He fell to his ground as orange brought his claw down upon him. Three times the claw dropped and three times green blocked the attack, until both of their arms shattered against each others, leaving green with one arm to his armless opponent. Orange realized this and tried to run away, only to be pounced and brutally destroyed.

Green howled to the sky in a blood-soaked frenzy, as the crowd cheered mindlessly for what they just watched. The hologram went up to read 'Green has one … Does he survive?' it asked

"Does it survive, yes clearly he does. Those poor people…" Amy said, anger and sadness welling up inside her

Around Sonic and Amy, people clicked on buttons that had no revealed themselves on the side of the chair. One marked with a 'Y' and the other 'N'. People clicked away and the hologram kept updating the numbers. Finally it finished tallying.

'3,294 Vote Yes … 2,413 Vote No … Green has earned his freedom' the text said as it scrolled to the right and off the screen

People cheered and the plate below green shifted and lowered him down below the stadium, as the people cheered for the show. A couple of flying drones came onto the field and mindlessly picked up the corpses of the fallen, while people talked over the match they just watched

"Whoa… So this is what Metal Sonic does for fun eh? I doubt that green wolf got his freedom anyways" Sonic said, anger rising in him

"Calm down Sonic, remember we are in his city. We can't afford to be detected" she said, worry in her voice from what she just saw

"I … know. But damn it Ames, I can't just sit by and watch" he said, his fist clenched in anger

"I know" she said, as she took his hand in hers "Just hold my hand and relax" she said, trying to help

"Thanks Ames" he replied, and let himself be lost in his feelings for her. His anger slowly faded, but never entirely left. People started cheering for round two. "Damn … there's more?" he asked

'Mortal Round … Prepare yourselves …' the text said

"Wait… a mortal round… so those were… robots?" Sonic asked in confusion

"I guess… let's watch" Amy replied with anticipation in her eyes

Two doors opened up, and through the door opposite of where they sat, came out a very large robo-bear. The guy looked menacingly as ever, with a glare of red in his left eye which was robotic. The man had his left side robotic, and thus much larger. His right side was enhanced with the robotic tech, having gears and springs throughout the muscles. His chest vented steam as he heaved with each of his step. "_I'd hate for whoever has to battle this guy"_ Sonic thought as the challenger made his way out from underneath Sonic and Amy.

With his back turned to them, was a small reddish dog, a husky to be exact. He appeared to be no older than twelve, and looked as if he had no chance against such a large and formidable target. Sonic sat straight up in his chair, only to have Amy's hand pull him back

"Don't do anything stupid, at least not yet" she whispered

He stared out at the battlefield, not sure how to save the kid.

'Two Mortals enter … One mortal is given the chance for freedom …' the monitor scrolled by.

'Ready … Set … Fight' it exclaimed, as the crowd cheered for blood. Sonic just sat there, thinking madly about what he would do. What can he do?

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><p><strong>Ok, so i pushed a deadline. I'm still working on Chp 8 to 'Mobian: Legacy', since i want to make it flow climatically... its ... tedious really. I love and hate that world so much. But i digress, i'm releasing this for 2 reasons.<strong>

**1) I want some feedback, to see if you people are all still ready to see what happens next (and any thing else you want to send to me (O.C.'s and locations are still being accepted, as they always will be))**

**2) You people would NOT let me take a break. I ended the first one, expecting to get a good three or so weeks away from writting this, so i could catch up & finish Legacy... sadly, this did not happen. So, here ya go then.**

**I'm also REALLY sorry. I meant to reward the fans by releasing TWO chapters at once, as my sort of 'thanks' to your support... so, tell ya what. If you guys Review this with LOVE, i'll release chapters 2 & 3 together. Deal?**

**Working on others, **

**Steven 'ZiGeNaToR' Ziegler**


	2. City Wide

**Author's note:**

**Damn, i'm a lazy f*ck, aren't i? Well, here is chapter 2. Chapter 3 is coming out super soon (so he says, :D). I'd appreciate some feedback and shizzle, for this is ... well... the beginning of the O.C.'s being incorporated into the story. Hopefully i did them justice... but i'll know soon enough. OH, read the bottom note for more**

***EDIT* stupid me, forgot to say... hit up the Forum (located on the top of my profile) to see more about what is happening in 'Freedom'. My bad, thanks to the readers who picked that up**

**-Enjoy**

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><p><strong>City Wide<strong>

The large robotic bear looked at the small dog and laughed "You? You're the best this arena has to offer!" and only continued to laugh and bellow steam from its vents. The husky however looked intently at his target, almost as if he was looking for weak points. The monitor above the arena materialized.

'Match … Star!' followed by a loud air horn to indicate the beginning

The bear rushed his tiny target, his claws dangling to his side as he prepared to swipe at the kid and finish him in one easy strike. The bear's arms swung, but only succeeded in destroying the air where the kid was, for he had leapt into the air. The husky did a few over-dramatic spins in the air, landed on the bears head just too then kick off and do a multitude of back flips as the bear stumbled backwards.

"Wow, so you do smell as bad as you look. And here I thought to never judge a book by its cover" the boy laughed

The bear roared in new found anger and launched his claw right at the kid, via a grapple cannon located in his arm. The claw missed the kid by inches, who in turn stuck his tongue out and cart wheeled around. The next grapple claw whizzed right between his legs, just missing flesh by inches. The dog laughed, grabbed the cable and yanked. The bear tumbled forward and fell to the ground.

"Geez man, at least give me some challenge" the husky laughed again, bouncing around where he stood with energy

The bear retracted his claws, and looked at the dog with a murderous gaze. "Oh I will OBLITERATE YOU!" the bear roared and rushed at the dog with newfound speed.

He crashed right into the kid, who merely ducked at the last second and caused the bear to roll over him. While the bear was tumbling over him, the kid quickly spun around and landed a solid kick to the bear's chest, sending him flying to the nearby wall of the arena.

A hefty boom resounded through the arena, and the bear vented much steam as he slumped to the floor. He quickly got up and his claws retracted back into his arms, and were replaced with long blades. The bear tested the blades against themselves, echoing a shrill metal on metal sound, as he looked at the kid with the intent to kill.

"My, my, my, don't you look pretty with your new nails. Remind me to give you a fitting manicure" the dog replied, taking a stance where he stood, bracing for impact

The bear rushed the dog, blades to his side, and quickly made distance towards his target. Upon reaching him, he swung madly down upon the dog. Each swing would only miss by inches, only to be returned with playful laughter

"Really? Who trained you to fight, a blind man!" the dog laughed as he playfully dodged the incoming swings. The bear, due to his size, could only swing so fast, so the dog seemed to have plenty of a window to dodge, but that didn't make the feat any less admirable.

"I swear that kid is going to die if he keeps taking this as a joke" Sonic fumed in disarray as he watched the bear trying to dice up the kid

"Sonic, relax. The kid seems more than capable of handling himself. Besides, if anything goes to wrong, you have your chaos control-like shoes." Amy comforted him with

"Yeah… I guess you're right. But still, this kid seems as if he is too cocky in his moves. One day he'll have to battle something that is actually hard, and he'll probably die due to his shenanigans. And I'd hate to see the only 'normal' person of this city die" Sonic resigned to say

"Well then, after his little fight we can go visit him… probably" Amy chimed in

"I'd like that" Sonic replied, going back to watch the fight

Steam was bellowing from the bear, as his body was slowly starting to overheat from just how much he was exerting himself. "DAMN IT CHILD, STAND STILL!" it roared at him

"If you insist" the kid said, as the bear brought his sword down on the kid. The kid rolled from under the blade, grabbed the arm and flung the bear over him by using his own force. The bear crashed into the ground.

"Now, about that manicure I promised you" the dog laughed as he quickly snapped the blade from the robot "I'll be honest, I'm not that good at it. But I think you'll attract all the boys now" he grinned as he brought the sword down on the bear's chest, driving it through his torso and pinning him to the ground

The bear desperately tried to free himself from the ground, but could not. Then he tried to remove the blade from his chest, and failed there to. He roared in anger and cursed the kid time and time again, but nothing helped him from his predicament. Suddenly the ground shifted and the bear was slowly transported below the surface, much to a boo-ing crowd.

'Does the winner earn his freedom?' came the display message on the board

"I dunno… the kid was better last week… I think he need a few more rounds to learn how to do things right" someone near Sonic said

"I agree, this kid could afford to learn some manners" the other replied

"Ames, can you believe this? They treat this like… obedience school!" Sonic exclaimed, his mind being boggled by this

"Yeah… well I'm voting for his freedom. This kid deserves to have his own life" she said, as she pressed the 'Y' button on her chair. Sonic did the same, and prayed that the people here had similar beliefs rather than the ones he just heard.

Slowly the votes tallied until Sonic saw '2853 for free … 2853 for another round' came the display.

"Whoa there… is that right?" Sonic thought, trying to do the math from the last fight.

"I'll save you the embarrassment dear, and say no" Amy said with a giggle "The last match was odd. Odd numbers don't break evenly, so someone out there didn't vote yet" she said

"Damn it. And here we are one vote to be cast for his freedom. I swear I'll free this kid" Sonic vowed

"Oh I know you will" she replied, cuddling to his side "After all, you saved me … how many times?"

He grinned from her response, happy that she was at least one his side, and then thought of what he could do.

'2854 for free … 2853 for another round … The kid has earned freedom' the monitor prompted, as the sand gave way and the platform took the dog under the arena.

'Next round to be a battle-royal against this week's champions' the monitor said

"Let's go visit our new friend" Sonic said, as he and Amy left the arena and headed around to find this red dog.

"Sonic… you do know we have no idea how this city's layout even looks like and furthermore" she begun to say, suddenly stopping midsentence

Sonic looked back, half-expecting her to of been kidnapped, when instead he sees her staring into a nearby window. In the window was a slew of outfits on mannequins and he realized what had just happened, and quickly tried to leave her side

Her hand shot out and grabbed him as she exclaimed "Sonic! We have to shop now!" she said with a giggle and dragged him inside the store with her

In the store, Amy dove right into the nearest rack of clothes, exclaiming with delight after each new found shirt or coat that 'was just perfect'. Sonic rolled his eyes in absolute boredom and noticed a nearby television turned onto some news network. Having nothing better to do, he simply watched it.

'And for those just tuning in, we are here with today's mortal round champion and recent winner of freedom. Hello and how are you kid?' the reporter asked

"I'm doing fine. I'm just happy to finally of achieved my freedom from that arena. I mean… it was fun and all to do the fights… but still. I miss having some time for myself" the kid replied simply

"Interesting, well any plans for your future?" the reporter asked

"Actually yes, I want to leave Metalropolis and see the world for once" the kid begun to say as an explosion was heard

Sonic looked out the window and saw the smoke cloud not that far from where he was and turned to Amy to say "Amy, stay here for a second" and with that he rushed to the smoke

He got there to see a bunch of robotic animals around the kid. The reporter had long since run away, it seemed. The robots all looked at the kid, almost with malice in their gaze.

"Hey there kiddo, enjoying your freedom, are we?" one asked. The kid refused to give a reply "Oh, so we are a tough guy now, are we? Well let's see if we can't 'fix' that" he laughed

"Come at me then" the kid replied with a cocky attitude

The men laughed and rushed at the kid, who leapt up in the air and kicked off the first attacker's face. Then begun an all-out brawl, desperate to hit the kid. The husky simply dodged and planted careful punches and kicks on his enemies, either disabling them or giving them a severe amount of pain. It seemed the kid was perfectly able to handle himself, so Sonic just stood on the side lines, watching and waiting to hop in if he was needed.

Then, three large robo-gorillas came out from the shadows and prepared to take the kid. Sonic leapt into the fray to help the husky out, quickly assaulting the new wave of gorillas. The men were tough, as Sonic quickly found out when his homing-attack only managed to dent one's armor. They laughed and fired their hands off at Sonic, with cables attached to the hand. The grabs missed, but they didn't retract their hands. Instead, their hands started to sparkle with electricity and they swung them around as if they were improvising massive flails.

"_Gee! Can't get shocked now"_ he thought with a grin as he dodged the attackers and made this whole event into a game. They roared in outrage as they continued to miss the blue hedgehog, up until Sonic heard the kid let out a scream of pain. He looked back and saw that one of the foxes managed to hit the husky with some kind of dart. The kid lazily looked at Sonic and passed out, as the wolfs grabbed the unconscious kid and ran off into the alleyway.

Sonic tried to chase after, but the gorillas got in his way and were determined to make him have to fight. "_Damn it all"_ he cursed as he slowly fought his way past the gorillas

He had to artfully dodge their giant shocking punches, and their exploding missiles they would occasionally launch from their chest, but all-in-all, it was just a tedious fight. In the end, he managed to get the gorillas to kill themselves, thanks to their own missiles, to which he dusted his hands off and looked down the alley for any sign of the kid

None was able to be found, and he was forced to admit that the brave kid had been taking for good, until he noticed a small piece of paper on the floor. He picked it up and read

'Metallic Labs est. 2121' and pocketed it with a smile "So Metal, you have your own lab eh? Hope you don't mind if I come for an inspection" he smiled as he ran back to the store to grab Amy and begin the search for this lab.

"Sonic damn it! You keep leaving me and it is starting to get tiresome" she said sarcastically as she strolled from the store "I really don't care that much anymore" she giggled

"Gee Ames, typically you'd crack your hammer over my head …" he said with a nervous laugh

"Oh I will, later. But come on and tell me, who did you save this time?" she asked casually

"Sadly no one, they managed to preoccupy me long enough so that they got a free escape" he said sadly "But, I got a lead on where to go" he continued to say as he showed her the piece of paper

"Metal Sonic's lab, eh? Why not just walk right up to the capital building and offer yourself to him" she said with a laugh

"Amy, I have to rush in and at least check to make sure the kid is alright" Sonic said

"Oh I know you will, you're a hero until the end" she said happily "But don't think you are going alone, I'm coming with" she said with a happy smile

"I'd prefer if you didn't… but I really can't argue against you, so let's get a move on" he said with a grin as the two jogged down the street to find this lab

The past many alleyways, and looked at a plethora of buildings, but none would dare mention 'Metallic Labs' much to Sonic's dismay. He was about to just start asking random strangers when he came across a robotic animal, who looked as if he had clearly seen better days. The robot seemed to be desperately looking for someone, almost as if it was panicking.

"Excuse me sir" the robot said in its metallic voice "Have you seen…. A … male red husky?" the robot said with broken sentences, for its condition was apparently as bad as it looked.

"You mean the one that just fought in the arena?" Sonic asked, and the robot confirmed "Yes, I'm looking for him too. Want to tag alone and help?" he offered, feeling pity for the robot

"I'd be … obliged. Soldier Android 2…. At … service" it said with sparks, as it crudely saluted Sonic with a malfunctioning hand "Most call …. S.A.2 …. Me" it finished with more sparks

"_I'd love to take this to Tails so it could get fixed… but I fear we are a little busy already"_ he thought as he accepted S.A.2's presence. He was also unnerved by the deep gash over the android's left eye, but there was a time and a place to ask those questions, and that wasn't now.

They quickly searched the city, looking for 'Metallic Labs' after Sonic showed the Android the card, to which the robot beeped a confirmation light that he knew where that was. They followed the robot to a large abandon-looking warehouse. They kicked down the wooden door, which was an oddity in such a robotic city

Inside, there were loose amounts of light, providing almost no visibility to anyone at all. S.A.2 detected the problem, and turned on some type of light within his eyes, illuminating the room in light

"Thanks S.A.2" Amy said to the robot

"It … nothing … was" it replied in short bursts as it looked around the room for the kid "Must find … Jacob…" it sparked as it relentlessly went into the warehouse to find the child

"I think this robot is like… the kid's protector or something. He doesn't seem evil" Amy reasoned to Sonic

"Still… it's a robot… in Metal Sonic's city… call me crazy, but I'm going to stay nervous around him" Sonic replied as he followed the sparking robot

They walked into the room, the door swinging close behind them. S.A.2 started to beep with some sort of detection software, as he wandered aimlessly through the warehouse looking for what he called' Jacob'.

They checked the room, in its entirety but found nothing that so much as indicated a lab ever existed here. There were just piles of broken metal and shards of glass kept off in the corners of the room and buckets of paint and rolls of paper. Nothing to even begin to indicate this was anything more than a storehouse for broken parts and … paint cans.

"I think this robot has taken one too many jolts, if you catch my drift" Sonic whispered with a grin

"Maybe, but I want to see what happens next" Amy whispered back, a smile of hope on her face

"Must … Protect …." The android stated as he walked over the wall and slide a panel from the wall, to reveal a ten-key pad. The robot pressed some numbers into the pad, and the walls slide to the right revealing a stair case down. "Head … to …. Lab …. Now" it sparked as it shambled down the stair well.

Sonic and Amy walked behind it, carefully watching for signs that this could be a trap all along. The lights dimmed until they reached a large metal door, to which the opened to expose a pristine hallway. The hallways were mainly white and perfectly cleaned, with monitors and the occasional blinking light.

"Geez, I feel like we walked into some type of hospital waiting room" Sonic said with a laugh

"Find … Jacob … must" S.A.2 shuddered as he clunked down the hall, looking for the kid.

"He really doesn't give up, does he?" Amy admired as they walked after their newfound friend

"Either that, or he is too messed up to know otherwise. But as long as he is on our side, I'm cool with whatever it is he does" Sonic laughed back

Down the hall came an aura of eerie light, bathing the hallway in an odd green cackle of light. Naturally, Sonic reacted by running over to the light to see what was going on. There he saw a large double door, with convenient windows posted in the frame so that he could gaze inside at whatever it was going on inside. He signaled towards Amy and the android to come towards the door to check the room out with him.

Inside, he saw a couple of robotic animals manning some kind of laser cannon, which looked almost too menacing and destructive. There, on some type of middle-of-the-room pad, was the small boy who was tied down to some type of operating table. A few robotic animals were preparing to aim these laser cannon at the kid, and up at the pedestal of the room was none-other than Metal Sonic, whose mouth piece echoed with lines as he talked to the child.

"Blast, Metal is here too… well wanna rush in and hope for the best?" Sonic sarcastically asked Amy

"Typically, yes… but not when he has a hostage" she replied

"Must … protect" S.A.2 exclaimed

"Then it's settled, I'll sneak in and see if I can't save the kid" Sonic winked back

"Be careful Sonic" Amy said protectively

"You know me, always am" he laughed as he opened the door quietly to listen in on the conversation while he snuck behind a table loaded with beakers and other scientific vessels.

"… And just like the rest of the foolish mortals on this planet, you shall be of the first generation of robotic beings, destined to rule the planet alongside me. Your lord, your master, your perfect idol" Metal Sonic said coldly "I suggest you sacrifice whatever attachment you still have to being mortal and surrender to the glory of your new-found metal existence." He finished

"NEVER! I'll kill you right now if you didn't have me tied to a flipp'n table!" the kid cried out

"And people wonder why I tie them to tables?" the metal overlord said sarcastically "Now you'll have to excuse me civilian 1352 B-2R, but I have other activities that need to be overseen. So be a good mortal and accept immortality" he said with a dark laugh as he left through a door in the back of the room

"_Now's my chance"_ Sonic thought, seeing how all the minions were preparing the laser device to fire at the kid. He quickly leapt out from behind the cover he constructed between him and where Metal Sonic was and rushed to engage and disable the minions.

He jumped into the air, curled up and shot down upon the scores of minions, bouncing off of their shattered corpses to target another group. The process took a matter of seconds, and the floor was reduced to a collective pile of nuts and bolts of what were once minions. "_Half expected flickys to fly out"_ he thought with a grin.

He jogged over to the kid, seeing the gun preparing to fire on the child, and jumped into the air to disable the gun. He impacted with the gun, which caused it to swivel and fire harmlessly into the corner of the room. "Well, that was a close one" Sonic laughed as he broke off the kid's shackles

"Hey thanks for the save mister, but you really should get leaving before Metal gets back" the kid warned

"Thanks for the advice, but I've come this far so I might as well go all the way" Sonic laughed back as he signaled to the door. Amy and S.A.2 rushed in to join Sonic

"Jacob … safe…. You …. Are?" the robot said statically

"Yes S.A.2, I am. Thanks to your friends here" the kid said, as he hoped off the table and opened some compartment in the android's body "Oh, here is the problem, he had some crossed wires. … That should do it" and with that, the kid closed the compartment "How are you doing now S.A.2?" he asked

"Doing fine sir, and you?" the robot replied in a calm and standard voice

"Better now that you're here" he said to the android "Oh, where are my manners!" he exclaimed as he turned to Amy and Sonic "My name is Jacob, Jacob Rorson. And you are?" he inclined to ask

"Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog" Sonic said as he put his hand out to Jacob to shake the kid's hand

"And Amy Rose, his girlfriend" Amy chimed in, only to get a glare from Sonic to which she giggled

Jacob looked at the hedgehog's hand, and then back up to his face and said "Wait… your Sonic…. Sonic the hedgehog… as in… the original the Metal Sonic was built from?" the kid asked with what seemed to be worry in his voice

"Yes, but I'm nothing like that deranged sociopath. I'm actually here to stop him" Sonic explained

"You had me at your name, I freaking LOVE you man. We … 'mortals' in this city idolize you! Oh man! I never thought I'd live to see Sonic the freaking hedgehog!" the kid said ecstatically as he jumped up and down in happiness "If you need some help debunking that metal tyrant, I'd SOOOOO love to help!" the kid said

"Wow… calm down there kid, we still need to get you out of this lab. I saw your fight in the arena and all that, but this is a little different than an arena fight…. This is the real deal" Sonic said tactfully

"Yeah little Jacob, you'd get your cute little self crushed by Metal Sonic's evil minions and such" Amy said defensively to the kid

"I don't care" The kid said with a more sour disposition "That metal tyrant has locked us in this city for so long, I don't even know what flowers or trees look like anymore" he said dramatically

"Ok, I'm pretty sure you're over-exaggerating there… but this isn't a fight for a kid, nothing personal Jacob" Sonic tried to say

"No! It is personal damn it! Do you even know what this town once was?" the kid said hysterically

"…uhm…. No" Amy admitted

"It once was a beautiful city named 'Darkwave', found after the great sage Salv'ir. The city lived in prosperity and peace for many ages, being a neutral city in all of Mobius's wars and battles. Then, one fateful day, Metal Sonic turned his gaze to this city and turned it into the abomination you see now. The metal man possesses an army of the most deranged henchmen ever to be seen… and they … they…" the kid said, crying from memories

"They took the city Darkwave and created Metaltropolis. All who became robots were spared from the tyranny he possessed, given their aristocracy life-style back. The rest… either the Arena or test subjects for his newest devices against the mortal races." The android finished for Jacob

"Wow… sounds serious… Sonic, ya think maybe we should get these two out of the city… and prepare our own army to topple Metal Sonic?" Amy asked

"Amy… I'm under Metal Sonic's nose right now… I could ambush the tyrant now and finish this right now" he said smugly

"_Logic Sonic. Remember, Metal Sonic knows all your tricks and thoughts. He doesn't expect logic from you, only impulse. Thus, you'd most likely fall into a trap"_ the voice chimed in his head

"Actually…" he said aloud, thinking over what he just heard in his head "Let's do that Ames, we'll get these two out of the town and prepare our own battle plan against the metal monster later" Sonic said

"But… Metal Sonic! You could destroy him Sonic" the kid exclaimed

"Technically, yes… but your right. He probably has too much for me. I don't even have the chaos emeralds on hand right now. He, on the other hand, has an entire city at his disposal as well as some 'super minions' I've yet to face. It'd be better to attack him when I have a chance at winning" Sonic begrudgingly said

"Sonic… thinking ahead. Damn, a woman's touch might have been too much to my hero" she giggled

"Cute Ames, but naw. I'm just using Logic now" he smirked "Now let's get us out of this city" he said as the four of them ran back through the hallway to the staircase

They got back into the abandoned warehouse, where Jacob needed to take a breather so they all stopped to talk over their plan

"So…. I know Metal Sonic well enough. He would never dare resort to having a protected sewer system, because he is to high and mighty to think that any such rebel force would ever be able to stand against him." Sonic stated

"So… you want us to hide out in the sewer system?" Amy said with a disgusted face "Sonic, I'm not standing down in that filth" she stated

"Fair enough Ames, but I was actually saying that the sewers might provide us a way out of the town" Sonic begun to say

"All routes check. Metal Sonic has the waste deported outside of the town to a purification plant. Sonic's plan checks out" the android said in a calculative voice

"I hate the idea of running away, but if it gives this city 'Darkwave' a fair chance of earning its freedom back… well" Sonic said with hope on his face "Then I think it's worth a shot"

"Sonic… I trust you enough. Otherwise I would have rushed into Metal Sonic's palace room and attacked him there. I just hope, for the betterment of Darkwave, that you're right" Jacob said with a sad look on his face

"Jacob…" Amy said as she kneeled in front of the kid "Sonic is the hero, remember. He'll save your town, I promise. He has saved people, worlds and especially towns' time-and-time again." She reassured him "Heck, he has saved me a good number of times alone" she giggled

"Thanks Amy, but… still" the kid said distractedly

"Well, we can all debate whether or not I did the right thing after we are out of the town, now we have to get moving" Sonic said as he poked his head outside of the warehouse to check the street.

The four of them carefully made their way outside of the warehouse, and found a nearby manhole. Sonic lifted the cover off and checked down there. "Whoa… it is far too dark to see anything. S.A.2, can you assist me here?" he asked the android

"Affirmative" it replied as he pointed its light inside to reveal a stone tube of a walkway. Oddly enough, there was no running water in the middle of the room, like a normal sewer.

"Weird… so there isn't … water down there?" Sonic stated

"Why should there be? Only like … no one in Metaltropolis needs water" Jacob replied sadly

"Good point" Sonic stated as he hoped down the hole. He landed and looked back up and said "Coast is clear!"

Slowly, S.A.2 and Jacob got themselves down into the sewer with him. Amy glared a look of pure hate at the sewer, hating how dirty it looked, and then finally succumbed to her need to follow Sonic around and joined him in the sewer.

"Nice of you to make it" Sonic whispered to her

"I couldn't forgive myself if I let you run off from me again" she whispered back as she kissed him "Besides, you're going to have your hands full protecting a kid" she said

"Good point" he replied "Ok, so I think we are going to need to head …. This way?" he said, pointing down one of the two ways in the sewer

"Negative. That direction would lead someone into the heart of town. The opposite direction shall lead this party out of the town" the android chimed in as he turned on his lights and begun to walk down the other way.

"I guess the robot knows what he is doing" Sonic said as he started to follow

"I would hope so, that robot saved me from a tough fight when I was younger" the kid replied

"Poor Jacob, you haven't had an easy life have you?" Amy asked

"Sadly no… I had some peace as a little pup… but as of recent years… no" he admitted "I lost my mother during the assault of Metal Sonic and my father gave his life up to protect me and my mother so that we could run away…" Jacob said with a heavy voice

"Ultimately, I lived in my family's bunker…. Alone … for a few months. It took some time to finally admit to myself that they weren't going to come to find me. That was when I was eight" the kid said

"Wow… harsh" Amy whispered to Sonic

"Then, I left the bunker to seek out what had happened in that time. Darkwave had transformed into Metaltropolis by then. I roamed the streets to find other people like me… when I got ambushed by a gang of robo-animals. They were going to kill me or something, I don't even remember anymore, but that is when S.A.2 leapt out to protect me. Somehow, that android managed to fight against Metal Sonic's programming and leapt in to save me…. I'm eternally thankful for that" the kid said with some cheer in his voice

"The action was nothing. Merely doing my programmed task to protect all citizens in Metaltropolis" the android chimed in

"And yes, he always says that…. But I believe otherwise" Jacob laughed "Anyways, from that point on S.A.2 sheltered me in an apartment we managed to steal. There it taught me how to fight and how to defend myself if need be. One day, a gang of robo-animals roamed the street, and fought S.A.2, reducing him to a pile of nuts and bolts" the kid said, containing his anger

"Because I owed him so much, I took what I could find and tried my best to rebuild him in the apartment. It took me about a month, but I succeeded with what you see today. Sadly, nothing in comparison to what he was, but still a loyal friend none-the-less" the kid stated

"In the end, I was kidnapped by Metal Sonic's goons and put into the arena… where you know the rest up until now" the kid finished

"Wow Jacob… you really have had a tough life, and what are you …. Like twelve years old?" Sonic asked

"Actually, ten" the kid said quietly

"Wow…. Well remind me to get you a couple birthdays worth of gifts to you. That'll make your day better" Amy said as she hummed off to think of what to get Jacob

"Anyways… how much further S.A.2?" Sonic asked

"Mere meters now, sir Sonic" the android replied

Sure enough, in a couple more meters, they came to a door marked 'Exit of Metaltropolis: Personal only'

They opened the door to see the nature of the outside. It was simple door, which lead them outside of the city, not to a purification plant as S.A.2 mentioned earlier.

"Wait… this is …" Sonic slowly said, trying to put the piece together

"A trap? How astute Sonic" Metal Sonic said as he flew down from the sky with some bizarre minions behind him. A couple of stick-figure like creatures were behind him. The twitched with anticipation, sporadically moving their arms around, all six of them. Their legs were thrown ahead of its body, double-jointed limbs to show just what it was. And its legs were covered in some type of black goop, which relentlessly bubbled and receded back into the leg just to bubble again. The oddest part of all is that the beings seemed to lack a head.

"Damn it Metal!" Sonic cursed, as he leapt in front everyone else "Why can't you just let the kid go!" he asked

"Because that kid happens to be an interesting test subject for me… and you took him away from me. Also, that android is my property" the metal overlord replied dully "Oh… I haven't even introduced your new friends Sonic. They are called the 'Darkroids', and they are ever so playful" the robot laughed

"Darkroid or not, they are going down just like you" Sonic said smugly as he dashed at the monstrosities. They seemed to know he was rushing at them, for they harnessed the black goo from their legs into their hands and begun to throw the goop at Sonic. The goo begun to glow in the air, coming at Sonic, to which he rolled out of the way just to watch the explosion from behind him.

"_Damn! They have explosives!"_ he cursed as he got back up and ran around to figure out how to destroy the monsters. He looked at the ring he had on his hand and remembered what Thoice told him. "_Got it"_ he smiled, thankful for Thoice's always looking ahead with his planning

Sonic jumped into the air, and curled up as if he was going to homing attack the monsters. But instead, he began to harness the speed in the air, building up speed and creating an air current. He then jumped out from being in a ball, sending a typhoon of air at the Darkoids, crashing into them and throwing them away.

"Oh, so you have learned some new tricks, have we?" Metal Sonic teased "Fair enough thought it was only me" as he begun to glow with crystal-looking energy "Ever have so much chaos?" he asked sarcastically rushing towards Sonic

Sonic dove out of the way, and launched a few rounds of his new-found ability at Metal Sonic, just to have them harmlessly crash into him and shot off into random directions

"If that's the best you can do!" the metal maniac laughed as he rushed at Sonic

"_Well… damn. Plan B time"_ he thought madly. He jumped back up into the sewer, through Amy and the rest out into the bush outside of the door

"Sorry Ames!" he cried out as he ran down the sewer back to the heart of the city "_Come on Metal Sonic, follow me or lose the city"_ he thought madly, looking back and seeing the glowing nemesis chasing him at hyper speed "_I'm really sorry Amy, but you guys need to get out of the city and that doesn't mean Metal Sonic needs to follow us"_ he thought sadly

"Run, run, run as fast as you can Sonic. You're in my city now, good luck hiding!" the metal doppelganger laughed as he began firing balls of pure energy at Sonic, missing him and causing small explosions throughout the tunnel

"_I sure hope I didn't make the wrong choice"_ Sonic cursed in his head "Come on Metal Sonic, is that the best a 'Metal Overlord' can do?" he jeered at his copy

"Oh if only you could see what I have in store for Mobius" Metal Sonic laughed as he landed on the floor and speed up right after Sonic, catching up to him at his side. He then turned to look at his original copy and said "Mobius is in for quite a change Sonic. I shall keep you around until I reach the phase that requires you" he stated plainly

"Whoa there buddy, a phase that requires me. Boy aren't you going to be disappointed when I say now" he laughed at the metal copy

"Thankfully, you won't have such a choice in the matter" the copy laughed as he stopped and flew out of a manhole.

Sonic stopped and looked at the manhole with an odd expression on his face "_Wonder what he meant by that?"_ he thought as he heard an unnerving sound from behind him. He looked around and saw that both sides in the tunnel were filling up with stick-figure people. Unlike the other ones though, these ones were skinny and frail looking. They had six arms and 3 claws per arm, and heads with horns on them… but still looked pretty easy to fight… if there weren't…. hundreds of them

"And here I thought I would have a moment to catch my breath" Sonic laughed as he readied himself for battle "_Amy, I'll catch up with you guys later"_ he promised himself

* * *

><p><strong>SO, how did you like it? Awesome city invasion or what? Oh... and Metal Sonic has plans for Sonic... on top of an army of Darkoids (what the f*ck are those?). To answer you, check the Forum... i'll be posting the Darkoids up later... so ... yeah. Love ya'll<strong>

**As for why i asked you to visit the bottom, i'm looking for a beta reader for 'The Mobian Adventures: Freedom' and the subsequent stories in the series... don't worry, it won't be a lifetime position, you can tell me to f*ck off whenever. I just want a reader for some time, to help fine-tune the work. You'll most likely have to do this ... once or twice a week... to be honest. Two chapters a week seems fair, right? I'm looking for someone with CONSTRUCTIVE criticism... ya know, the good stuff. **

**If your interested, hit me up in the world of PM's. That being said my PM box also accepts**

**1) Original Character submissions**

**2) Location submissions**

**3) Praise**

**4) Conversation peices, cause you think i'm funny. :D**

**5) Hatemail and so forth.**

**6) the rest**

**Love, **

**ZiGeNaToR**

**The Steven Ziegler ^**


	3. Irresponsible Pighead

**Author's Note:**

**So here we are, another Amy P.O.V. chapter. Haven't had one since chapter 6 in the first story... so yeah... it has been some time. Hope you enjoy, since you are introduced to the backbone of the next chapter here... and then the subsequent chapters. Oh, and i'm not a girl, so i find it a little hard to 'be a girl' in my writing, at times. I sure hope that doesn't come across as horribly apparent, if so, my apologies. **

**-Enjoy**

* * *

><p><strong>Irresponsible Pighead<strong>

"Ugh! Sonic!" Amy yelled up at the door frame leaving from the sewer system they were pushed out of "UGH! I can't believe him! Pushing me out and just saying sorry!" she fumed with anger

"But Amy… he bought us our freedom…" Jacob said shyly, trying not to redirect the rage at him

"I… I!... I know" she admitted, looking at the kid "_Amy, Sonic left you with the kid. You have to be mature and responsible and prove to him that you can protect him. And maybe then we can have a kid…"_ she thought, blushing with an accompanying giggle "Your right Jacob, let's get going" she said as she started to jog to the nearby forest.

The three got into the forest, and dug in rather deep as to avoid patrols. They got a good mile or so in the forest, and had to stop for a breather because Jacob wasn't adept at running like Amy was, nor a robot like S.A.2.

"How…. How do … you …. Keep running …. Like …. Sonic" he managed to say through his pants

"Years of chasing him" she replied earnestly "It's ok Jacob, if it makes you feel better, it's a hedgehog thing" she teased

"Not… funny" he managed, with a laugh

"Anyways, what is our plan?" she asked

"Recommended options? Search for assistance. Wait until nightfall and invade. Leave Sonic to his fate and move on." The android said calmly

"Well… I know which one we aren't doing" Amy said with a slight temper "We are going to wait until nightfall, and then see what we do then. I'm going to assume Metal Sonic has taken up some precautions against night invasions" she said, half asking

"Affirmative. Metal Sonic has a full time garrison of troops for night shift surveillance."

"Great…" she said, summoning her hammer to mindlessly swing back and forth as she thought "I guess… I might be able to sneak back in… since I move relatively fast… and at night my pink fur won't be as much of a problem…" she said, trying to rationalize her thought process

"Amy, Sonic SACRAFICED himself to free us. Don't insult the gesture by running back inside for him. If he is really your hero, then he'll find his own way out. It is Sonic after all" Jacob tried to rationalize to her

"I know… but I've followed him into worse…." She started to say "_Only to get captured…"_ she realized. "Ok, you have a point Jacob. But… I don't want to uselessly stand her, unable to help!" she cried out in despair

"And we don't have to" he said "There is a large complex north of here, called the 'Built Tech Facility', or more commonly… Jail" Jacob stated

"Ok… and?" she asked, lost by where the kid was trying to go with his reasoning

"Meaning Metal Sonic's goons will most likely catch Sonic… but not knowing who he is, they will simply teleport him into the jail. We can arrange a jail-break for him there, away from Metal Sonic's massive power" the kid said

"Oh… I get to break my love out of jail again?" she said with happiness in her voice, as memories of her trying to convince him into marrying her rushed through her head, eliciting a smile and a blush on her face.

"Built Tech Facility is fifteen miles north of this location" S.A.2 stated, breaking the silence

"Then let's get going. Can you carry Jacob?" Amy asked

"Affirmative" the android replied

"Whoa there, no" the kid protested, jumping back from being grabbed "I can run there, we'll just have to take some breaks every now and then" he argued back

"But why complicate it, with this we can get there in like….. half the time" Amy tried to argue

"Yeah, but at what cost?" the kid asked "I don't want to strain S.A.2's servos and I definitely don't want to be carried like a baby for fifteen bloody miles" he said

"Oh… so it would damage the robot…"Amy pulled from his sentence "Gee… ok, I guess we can take it in small jogs for like a mile or two at a time" she said, sighing at her circumstance "_Must be how Sonic felt when he took his friends on adventures with him"_ she realized with a grin

Amy and Jacob took a few seconds to stretch and loosen their muscles for a long run, then after preparing they begun to jog off into the depths of the forest. The sun guided their way, sending the shadows of the trees ahead of them.

The entire time they jogged, Amy could help but think about Sonic and what Metal Sonic could have done to him IF he had been captured by now. "_I swear, if Sonic is hurt I'll crash this Piko-Piko hammer of mine into the metal monstrosity until only a pile of bolts remain"_ she thought viciously as she looked back to see how Jacob was doing with the running.

He seemed to be tiring down from the running, even though it seemed like a brisk jog for Amy. "_I wonder if it's because I have Sonic-like speed now, or the endurance training of all my Boxercising that is making me seem so fit in comparison to this kid?"_ she pondered as she slowed down her pace to jog with Jacob, so that she could better protect him.

The android, S.A.2 was running alongside him, taking large bounding strides that echoed in a metallic sound with each stride. Amy wished that they could of just left the robot back there, having mixed feelings of robots ever since her time adventuring with Sonic back when they stopped Chaos.

The sun finally took its happy place, off in the setting sky sending its golden light down upon the forest, giving everything a serene glow to it. She couldn't help but be put at peace looking at the tree line and its reflective glow that seemed to only calm her down. Jacob's deep breathing, however disrupted her from losing herself in the serene beauty of nature.

"We can stop for now" she said casually, and upon seeing Jacob's eyes shine with relief, she knew she did the right thing. They slowed down to a walk and ended up in a clearing, with a small stream cutting down the middle. In her mind, they really couldn't have chosen a better place to stop, as she took in the beauty of her surroundings.

"_Now I understand why Sonic runs around Mobius so often… It is such a beautiful world outside the city"_ she realized, looking at Jacob with a motherly gaze to see if he was doing alright. The kid had already jumped into the nearby stream, and was lazily sitting against the bank with his head against the sandy bank and his eyes closes as he relaxed.

"Man…. Thanks Amy. This is soooooo relaxing" he said lazily

"It's alright Jacob, but try not to take too long, we still have a fair distance to cover." She said, looking ahead as if she was trying to see their destination.

Her ears pricked up as she heard some beat-filled music heading her way, almost like something she would of listened to in a club. And albeit, her foot wanted to tap to the rhythm, she knew she needed to be on the defensive because it might have been an enemy. From the nearby tree line, broke a figure of what seemed to be a female hedgehog. She was covered in a full cloak, with some type of gun tethered to her back, as if she was some type of soldier.

From within her hood, Amy could see some shade of green in her bangs, but it was too little to tell if it was dyed or not. The girl had some type of … half-monocle television device on the side of her head, which seemed to take up a small amount of her attention. The stranger batted her eyes around the clearing quickly and spotted Amy within a couple second, and gasped with surprise.

"Mom!" she said taking a few steps forward "Where's dad?" she asked, looking around, her little television-monocle sliding off into the hood, revealing her eyes to Amy. One was blue and the other was pink, almost comical to look at whereas it was also very attractive.

"… uhm… excuse me?" Amy said bewildered "I am no one's mother… well… not yet at least. Who are you?" she asked, trying to figure out their stranger

"Wait… err…. I'm … sorry" the girl struggled to say plainly "I must … have mistaken…. You for … someone else" she said, turning her back and heading into the forest, her little device sliding back out over her eye so that she could read something quickly.

"No wait, I can help. Who were you looking for?" Amy asked, trying to figure this stranger out

"Weren't you accompanied by another travel member?" the kid asked, quickly reading something that was panning across her screen over her eye. The same catchy song was playing, making Amy have a hard time focusing on the situation.

"Well… yes. But he is back in the city. What is that device over your eye?" she asked, wishing she asked about the gun instead

"Thanks Amy and this is a type of scanner I made up in my spare time. Hope you still like my music" she said with a giggle as she ran back the way Amy and others ran from, heading to Metaltropolis, leaving a blur of speed behind her.

"Whoa! Another fast hedgehog… who … knew my name?" she figured, as the music left her ears and let her think clearly "I … really want to follow her and figure her out. But… then there is you" she said, turning to look at Jacob, who was just laughing in the water "What's so funny bub!" she asked

"Nothing… nothing" he said with a stifled laugh "Just funny to watch you get confused" he said as he crawled out of the water to dry off

"I wasn't confused, I was just listening to the music..." she said reflexively, only realizing how funny that sounded "Ok, whatever. Dry off, we are leaving in five" she said authoritatively.

"Ok, fine… whatever mom" the kid said with a laugh, making Amy fluster with false rage.

"_Seriously though… who was that? Who mistake me…? ME, as their mother?"_ she couldn't help but think, looking off back at the direction of Metaltropolis, where that girl with the weird 'scanner' thing and gun ran off to. "_I sure hope she doesn't find Sonic… she might wish him harm…"_ Amy thought, saddened by the thought.

"_But… Sonic is too smart to fall for such an easy girl"_ she said defensively, and looked towards Built Tech Jail's direction, trying to think of what they will do when they get there.

"Ok, I'm ready to go Amy" Jacob said, squeezing the last bit of water from his miserable excuse for clothes.

"Remind me to buy you a new outfit when we get a chance" she said with a giggle. "You need to stretch before you run Jacob" she pointed out

"I know" the kid said with an abhorred realization in his voice, as he started doing some quick and lazy stretches "But why?" he asked

"Because" Amy said, during mid-stretch "this loosens your muscles up and lets you run longer with less pain after wards. Think of it as 'cheating' your body to go further" she explained

"Oh?" the kid said as he started stretching more and faster "So… if I stretch enough, I should be able to keep up with you" he said

"Uhm…." Amy said, not sure if she should say otherwise "Sorta…" she decided

They finished up and begun jogging towards the jail facility, watching the sun slowly begin to set. Once the sun's light stopped guiding them, S.A.2 started running in-between them and used his flashlight-like eyes to guide their way, with intermittent delays in the light.

"_I sure hope Sonic is at the jail… otherwise what else can I do?"_ she thought, as the three jogged by flashlight "_I guess… I could free the entire jail… he'd like that, right?"_ she thought, not sure where Sonic would stand on that.

"_On the one hand, they'd all be free… and he'd like that. But on the other, they were captured once, what's to stop them from being captured twice?"_ she thought, hating her predicament

"Built Tech Jail in three miles" the android chimed, breaking Amy's train of thought

"Thank you" she said to the android "Jacob, you have any idea what we can do when we get there?" she asked

"Blow the jail sky-high" he said smugly

"Ok… anything that won't send an army after us to be stopped" she said with a light giggle at the kid's response

"I dunno, I guess we could wait outside and see what we could do" he said "Or… we could hit up the neighboring town and plan out our next move there" he stated

"I like the idea of hitting the other town…" she said, her feet already tiring from the excessive amount of running they've done today "What and where is the other town?" she asked

"It's Coretin, and it's a real dive of a place" the kid said "loaded with more robotic animal people and worse… the robo-mafia" the kid said, almost relishing the confrontation

"Ok… so it is a little seedy of a place" she stated "Wonder why other people don't know about these cities Metal Sonic has taken over…" she asked aloud

"Because he controls the media of this side. Your cities are far too busy with their own lives to come over here and see what is going on, thus he is free to do what he wants…" the kid said with some passive anger

"So… this Coretin would be a good place to stop up for the night?" Amy asked

"I'd say so. Just be extra careful to not get the mafia to target you, and of all things avoid getting on the general's radar" the kid warned

"General?" she asked

"Yeah, Gearo." The kid said with a pained smile "Ratchet Gearo, general of Metal Sonic's first division. The robotic man has an ego only the city can contain" he laughed

"Since when did Metal Sonic have generals?" she asked

"As far as I know. The 'man' is far too busy working his slave cities and whatever his 'master plan' is, so he built a league of generals and such to help take a lot of the stress from him. This freed up his schedule to focus on his ultimate goal, and kept the people suppressed for a full twenty-four seven" the kid said angrily

"That is terrible" she said "So… we should destroy this general, right?" she asked

"In a perfect world, yes. But if we aren't allowed to nuke this jail, then you will most certainly be against destroying this city's kingpin" he said

'Kingpin' "_why does that word echo in my mind?"_ she thought, thinking back to Thoice and the story of his life. "_If he could go through hell and back to save a city, then why can't I?"_ she thought, always having idolized Thoice's life. "Jacob, we are freeing this city" she said smugly

"But Amy…." He started to say

"No 'buts'" she giggled "We are taking out the kingpin here because it's just what Thoice would of done" she stated

"Thoice? What is a Thoice?" the kid asked

"_Wow… Metal Sonic has done well"_ she thought "Thoice is a great friend of mine, who is far too busy saving entire civilizations right now to save just one city. So we are going to help him out for once" she said smugly

"If ya say so Amy, I'm with ya until the bitter end" the kid said "Just remember, you aren't your friend 'Thoice' here, so … yeah" Jacob pointed out

"I know… I wish he was" she said, thinking of what he would do "_Probably sacrifice himself to save the city, probably getting poisoned or stabbed or losing half his blood or something, just for once measly city"_ she thought with a grin, knowing the man had an infallible sense of moral guidelines, something that even Sonic admired.

"Redirecting to Coretin, estimated travel distance, two miles" S.A.2 said, as he started to turn a little right and change their overall direction

"Well, here we come Coretin, prepare yourself for freedom" Amy said happily

"For freedom!" Jacob said with a happy cheer

"FREEDOM" the droid chimed in as well, as Amy and Jacob laughed at the situation

**"Amy… is that you?"**She heard in her head, as she panicked and looked around **"I'm sorry, I'm in your head. Just think your response dear"** the voice said

"_Uhm… who is this?"_ she asked, worried this might be some villain or something

**"Really? It's Thoice. I'm sorry for the indirect communication; I just need to let you know something really fast."** he said quickly

"_Ok, make it quick… I guess"_ she said, looking around for him

**"I hear your heading to Coretin, and I know you want to free the city. It'd be better if you didn't… but I can't stop you. Just check out a nifty 'store' called 'The Cat's Meow', alright?"** he said cryptically

"_Ok… but why?" _she asked back

**"Just trust me, I have to leave now. Be careful"** the voice said as it left her head and made her mind suddenly very quite.

"_Ok… that …. Was weird" _she thought, thinking of what she was just told. "_I guess I'm going shopping… for something"_ she thought with a false grin

"So… we should be there in a few. I'm telling you what, I'm so taking a break when we get into the city" Jacob said with a pained laugh

"Fair enough, ever hear of a store called 'The Cat's Meow?" she asked

"Can't say I have, should I of?" Jacob asked

"Probably not" she replied "_Way to go Thoice, telling me something useless"_ she thought

The city showed up over the distance, shining its light across the forest landscape. So bright in fact, that S.A.2 turned off his own flashlight for it seemed to serve no purpose in the basking luminescence.

She couldn't see much yet, but the town seemed to of been horribly ravaged by war. There was water around the city, casting a glare as black as night and trees that seemed like hollow skeletons. Everything had a charred tinge to it, as if a fire was recently put out across the land. The land was cracked and dry, indicating there hasn't been rain in some time. Atop the wall of the city were massive search lights, with gun emplacements across the wall, about three facing the way Amy and Co. were traveling from.

"Any Idea on how to get in?" Amy asked

"Same way as any city, go to the front gate and claim to be a visitor" Jacob said

"_Really… that's all?"_ she thought "Seems as if there should be a catch" she said

"Should be, but trade is trade. And tourism is tourism, even when you are an evil dictator" the kid said plainly

They walked up to the front gate, were two large robotic rhinos held the door way, armed with the largest armor Amy had ever seen and guns to match the size. They had some type of visor over their eyes, and she could feel them almost scanning her with their eyes as they approached, but unlike a pervy gaze, this one felt analytical.

"Business?" the one to the right asked

"Pleasure?" Amy replied, not sure if that would work

"I'd recommend the northern district, it is more … maintenance'd…" he hinted at as he tapped a button on his wrist that opened the large steel door. The door creaked open, slowly sliding into the ground revealing the city. The trio walked inside and heard the screeching door close their escape

The city was … almost as beautiful as it was packed with explosive tension. The streets were relatively empty, thanks to it being evening, but the street lamps illuminated most of the city. Most buildings were made out of what seemed to be stone, and there were a fair few buildings with some odd symbol over them.

"Hey, S.A.2, what are those buildings for?" she asked the android

"Those are 'churches'. Back in the old days, they were places for worship and praise to a fictitious power that calmed the minds of the less fortunate" the android replied "under Metal Sonic's rule, they have been outfitted as server rooms" he finished

"_Interesting, who knew people of the past were so superstitious" _she thought, remembering how often Thoice mentions some 'God' type character.

"Hey Amy, weren't we looking for some store or something?" Jacob asked

"Oh yeah… 'The Cat's Meow', help me find it" she said, hoping Thoice was being helpful again.

They walked down the stone-paved street, looking for this store as they read the signs in front of the stone buildings. Eventually they found it, in front of a large looking complex.

"Must be the place" she said, unconvinced

"Ladies first" Jacob said as he gestured her in

"…Thanks…" she said absentmindedly as she went into the door, hearing a bell jingle as she entered.

"Oh, a customer at this hour seems a little late" a tall mouse said "I suppose you'd want a room, is it?" he asked

"_An inn, really Thoice?"_ she thought with a grin "Yeah, a room for three" she asked

"Ok, that'll be 500 rings" he said

"Seems a little steep, but alright" she resigned as she went for the rings "_Wait… Thoice suggested this… I wonder if his name has weight in the world?"_ she thought randomly. "Would I get a discount if I said I was a friend of Thoice?" she asked

"Shhhh" the mouse said as he cautiously looked around "Take this and go into the back" he said, handing her a key and pretending to be really busy at the counter, ignoring her presence now.

She gestured to Jacob and S.A.2 and the three walked to the back of the room, to a steel door with a lock. "_Wonder what just happened"_ she thought as she opened the door.

Inside was a small room with a few chairs, and nothing else save a door in the back. She walked to it and opened the next door but couldn't.

"Weird…" she said, as she looked back at the other door which was still opened. "Jacob, close that door" she said, thinking it was preventing her from getting to the next room

"Ok" he said as he closed it "Anything else you need me to do?" he asked sarcastically

She ignored him and tried the door again, this time it opening. She walked inside and saw a small desk with an eagle behind the desk writing on some papers and enjoying a small glass of what appeared to be scotch.

"Ho, ho. So this is the 'reinforcements' Master Thoice promised me, eh?" the eagle said, gesturing for them to sit down, as there were two chairs in front of the desk

"Uhm… sure…." Amy said, only getting more and more lost as the day went on "And you are?" she asked

"Oh, where are my manners" he said flustered "it's been a long day, accept my apologizes. I am General Kane Korree, but most just call me Kane. You are?" he asked, taking another drink from his scotch

"Amy Rose and this is Jacob Rorson" she introduced them as

"Amy Rose eh? Aren't you with that Sonic fellow?" he asked

"Yes and no" she replied, blushing that knowledge of that had spread

"Damn shame he couldn't show up too, we really could use his help. But I'll trust he knows what he was doing sending you ahead" the eagle said "My mistake, want a drink?" he asked, grabbing the bottle to fill up his glass again

"Some water would be lovely for the both of us" Amy said

"Oh, the water dispensary is behind you" he pointed

Sure enough, there was a water cooler behind them, with glasses to the side. Jacob leapt up in joy and grabbed a cup and drank cup after cup of water, making intermittent sounds as the container would send bubbles up

"Seeing how parched the kid is, I'd say you've been running all day, eh?" the eagle stated

"Yes sir" she replied "Since Sonic ran back into Metaltropolis to distract Metal Sonic off our tails" she said

"Bummer, the chap is bound to get captured … perhaps it is for the best, as he would then be able to set a jail break in motion and free some good men with him" the eagle said absentmindedly

"Excuse me, but you are a general, right?" Amy asked, to which he nodded his head to "Then why aren't you arresting us? You work for Metal Sonic, right?" she asked

"Yes and no" the man replied "Ya see, us citizens are really given two choices. Freedom through working in the military, or oppression for being but a citizen." He said "Well… unless you're rich, then you play by your own rules" he laughed

"I just followed my old man and joined the military. When Metal Sonic came and took this town over, he converted most of the existing military to his side; all that happened to me was a small promotion. I don't mind, really. As long as my darling wife and kid are spared from the atrocities of war, I'll put up the farce that I work for Metal Sonic" he said

"But … you know what he does, right?" Amy asked, bewildered by the man's take on this

"Yes, more than I'd like to admit. But like I said, he hasn't done anything to my family, so I'll put up this show for him" he said "Doesn't mean I'm loyal" he smirked slyly

"Oh… so you're like a resistance movement leader?" she asked

"You betcha, ever since Thoice showed up and showed me what would be needed to topple Gearo, I've been working in this private room daily trying to figure the full plan out" he said, gesturing to his pile of papers "He even gave me a great name to work with. 'Liberty League', kinda catchy right?" the eagle laughed

"In a way" she replied, remembering Thoice telling her exactly what the 'Liberty League' was, and having a small grin to that knowledge now. "So, how do you plan to save this city?" she asked

"A lot of work" he replied with a laugh "Not sure you caught the full scale of it, entering at night, but this isn't exactly a lush country to live in. War has ravaged this land relentlessly, leaving a barren wasteland in its wake." He sighed "We rely heavily on trade to keep this city going, and since the roboticization… oil and such are on high demand" he said plainly

"So… your plan is to topple trade?" Jacob said, bringing back a tall glass of water for Amy, to which she thanked him and drank

"Exactly. If we can place an embargo over their necessities, then they will weaken. When they weaken, we can perform a coupe'." The eagle laughed

"Seems far too risky" Amy chimed in

"War is war" Jacob said

"I like this kid" the eagle said with a laugh "But your right missy, this isn't exactly guaranteed. In fact, Thoice told me only death can save this town… I believe he was implying that Gearo needs to die. I don't know about you, but I agree" the man said

"_Thoice wouldn't say that"_ she thought "Are you certain that is what he would say? Because … we could capture him and detain him elsewhere, right?" she asked

"Technically, yes" the eagle said "but death is a much quicker… and albeit, cheaper method" he argued

"But it is the right thing to do" she said

"The term 'right' doesn't really exist in war" he chastised her "There is 'live' and 'die', and sadly those are really the only two choices" he said

"But…" she said, trying to argue

"I'm not budging here. Unless you think you can free this city by yourself, then Gearo dies" he said plainly "Trust me, I don't take any pride in this, but the man is corrupt and would do the same to us if given the chance"

"Then we should kill the jerk" Jacob said "Anyone who is corrupt is evil. Anyone who is evil is a murderer. Anyone who is a murderer deserves nothing better than death" he said

"JACOB!" Amy said shocked "I can't believe you, you know better" she said

"Actually… he is right. Amy, war isn't pretty" the eagle said "But it is an unfortunate part of life when people like Metal Sonic decide to start empires" he claimed

"Why don't you men ever think of being the better one through your actions" she said, burying her head in her hands

"We do Amy… we really do. I have a two-year old and a wife I love more than the free-open-air of Mobius. I'm willing to fight and kill, and yes… be killed to preserve their freedom" he said sadly "Metal Sonic however is playing dirty. He uses unloving soldiers created from steel and cruel ideas, and they fight only because they are programmed to. He outnumbers the resistance an easy thousand-to-one, and that terrifies me" he said

"Then why fight this war? Trust Sonic, he'll save us" she tried to argue

"Because he has saved Mobius time-and-time again, I won't argue that he could save us this time. But you fail to understand the scope of this war. Sonic, alone, cannot save ALL of Mobius from Metal Sonic." The eagle said

"LIES! Sonic can and will" she said defensively

"Look, I know you don't want to hear this but I'm going to be honest with you" Kane said "If Sonic happens to destroy Metal Sonic, RIGHT NOW" he said with a gesture of crumpling a piece of paper "Then the remaining seven generals will rise up and take over the throne and carry out the plan regardless. Sonic needs to topple eight dictators, Metal Sonic included, and free a good six cities" he said

"And he can do that, he's had to do more before" she argued

"Yes, but not against this type of enemy. He fights some crazed scientist, who treats world domination as a game. Sonic is in for the thrills, and when all is said and done, Mobius is free until round two." The eagle claimed "Metal Sonic, however, is playing for keeps. He plans to kill people, torture cities and burn freedom if given the chance. Sonic hasn't played by these rules, and he'll find out soon enough just how different this 'game' really is" Kane stated

"_Oh… he brings up a good point. Sonic never has had to kill, or save cities from death and torture before… but…"_ she thought "Sonic is the hero of Mobius though, he will fight endlessly to see that freedom is restored" she argued back

"And I'm not saying he won't. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he single-handedly wins most of the battles and takes down the dictators himself. I'm just saying he is going to need help here… and a lot of it" Kane replied calmly

"Oh… you've been offering your help this whole time…" she realized

"Exactly. Sonic is the hero of Mobius, few will argue that. Unfortunately, Mobius needs more than one hero this time" he said

"Well… It has me" Amy said proudly

"And me" Jacob chimed in

"And I as well, but the three of us aren't nearly enough" Kane stated, a grin on his face "Thoice told me that Sonic will find some good recruits in jail, I hope he is right. Asides from that, we need to then work on toppling these cities and freeing the people to fight for us" Kane said, taking out a map to show Amy just how much fighting he was talking about

The map was extensive, showing a very large amount of Mobius. The city of Coretin was highlighted, showing a moderately fair sized city. Around it were several others, Metaltropolis being to the west and easily a good three times larger.

"As you can see, we have to liberate a couple cities first… all while fighting off Metal Sonic and his armies" he said plainly, drawing lines of the map to show which cities would need to be saved then defended

"Wow… this …. Is …." Amy begun to say

"Totally awesome!" Jacob cried out "When do I start?"

"When your older" the eagle said "This is war kid, and warriors are older" he said calmly

"I was a gladiator…" Jacob said sternly

"And I was an astronaut" the eagle retorted

"Actually Kane… he was" Amy said, quickly filling him into Jacob's past

"My mistake kid…" the eagle said "I never would have thought…. Ya know …. It is just …." He kept saying, trying to figure out how to apologize

"It's alright sir" Jacob said "I just want to help the resistance. Since I don't have family to fight for, then I'm here to help freedom" he said

"And help it you will, I can use you in the subterfuge division" Kane said, already thinking ahead

"Now hold up a second" Amy said "I like how we are all saving Mobius in our heads right now, but let's get back to the 'now' if we can" she said

"Ok… what is it you want Amy?" Kane asked

"I want to know what to do about Sonic" she said, still worried "Will he need help breaking out of jail, can I help, how would I… ya know, those kind of things" she said flustered

"No, no and no" Kane said "Sonic can break out himself, according to what I was told. You can help me recruit here in the city Amy, which will help us more in the long run. Especially since you're 'in' with Sonic, you'll be able to convince so many people to join us" Kane said

"I was meaning to ask, how did you people know I was 'with' Sonic?" she asked, blushing

"Stories of Sonic have spread across most of Mobius, and recently the stories mention you a little more. We then piece it together, and now people are rooting for a happy romance." He laughed "Romance is a wonderful distraction to the horrors of war, especially when it is for celebrities" he said

"Me? A celebrity?" she asked, grinning like a fool "I can definitively help you out then" she giggled

"Good, now as for you kid, I'll need you to sneak into the server room and place this on it" Kane said, taking out a small device with a weird little dish on it "This will allow us to read into Metal Sonic's plans, and predicate what he'll do, so we can minimize causalities. But sneaking in will be tricky…" Kane warned

"I can do it easy" Jacob said smugly

"I sure hope so" Kane said "Now, any more questions? If not, I'll need to ask you to leave so I can finish some work. Plus, it'll be too suspicious to people if you were in here for so long, and left with me" he said

"Uhm… only one" Amy said "You by chance know a green hedgehog with a gun?" she asked, remembering meeting her in the jungle

"Can't say I've ever heard of anyone like that" Kane replied calmly "Good evening Amy Rose and Jacob Rorson" he said, bowing his head to them "May Mobius be free"

"With hope" Amy said leaving to the door

"I'll have you guys set up by tomorrow" Jacob said, pocketing the device

"You'd have our deepest sympathies" Kane said as they left.

"Oh… funny thing, Thoice told me to head to this 'store'. Any idea what I bought?" she asked with a grin

"You bought the idea of freedom, and there are no refunds" Kane laughed back as they closed the door and started to walk to the other door.

They walked to the main desk, to which the mouse handed them another key and went back to cleaning the desk. The trio walked up the staircase, and found their room.

They entered it and saw it was a simple two bed room, with a door in the corner, that most likely lead to a restroom.

"What do you think of this 'Kane' character?" Amy asked Jacob

"He seems really fun" he replied, still enthralled by his task and that he was now in a war "I'm looking forward to destroying Metal Sonic's empire just like he wrecked my life" the kid grinned

"Jacob, it is a slippery slope." Amy said "If you destroy him like he did you, then you are no better" she said

"I don't want to be better, only fair" the kid replied as he hoped into bed "Even if it means becoming just as evil" the kid said lazily as he fell asleep

"Poor kid" Amy said aloud

"He has had a rough life" S.A.2 chimed in "Best to let him rest and learn the true way of the world later" the android said, walking to the corner of the room and powering down for the night

"_Good point… Sonic… get free"_ she couldn't help but think as she went to her own bed and wrapped herself in the sheets. "_I miss cuddling you at night"_ she couldn't help but think, feeling sad as he eyes closed

The memory of that green hedgehog was the last thing she saw before she fell asleep, being called 'Mom' by some stranger…

* * *

><p><strong>So... how was that? There is a jail, a ravaged city, a dictator of a war-torn town, a robotic mafia to work with and some freelancing Green hedgehog who roams the countryside with music and a gun... oh, and confuses Amy as a mom. (To clarify, this is NOT scourge... EVER. :D ). <strong>

**Sure hope you all enjoyed it, and i'd love some good 'ol feed back. As always, i want to thank the fans for submitting these ideas in the stories... this one was from Ultrabot Ultimus the Hedgehog, who gave the city, jail, dictator, mafia and even Kane ideas. Propz to him. **

**As always, i ACCEPT O.C.'s and other fan submissions, and reviews and such are greatly appreciated. See ya around the corner.**

**P.S. I will announce the other 'donate'rs' and their characters when they are revealed in the story... otherwise, hit up the forum (link on profile page) and check it out there. **

**Much love,**

**Steven 'ZiGeNaToR' Ziegler**


	4. Dust in the Wind

**Author's note:**

**As always, you people really seem apathetic to whether or not i change P.O.V.'s on you, unless it means i publish less frequently. haha. Anywhoodle, back to Sonic (still would like to hear back from you guys for chap 3, more so). I apologize now, because this chapter is HEAVY in dialogue. i try, REALLY hard, to avoid heavy dialogue chapters... but sometimes they just work too perfectly... i hope that is the case as you read the latest installment,**

***Edit* Thanks to all who asked, i forgot to credit work. The mysterious green-hair hedgehog has yet to be named, THUS, i won't credit the author (yet. D ). As for Alexzander and Nagatar, Thanks to our pal Ultrabot Ultimus the Hedgehog for those, AS WELL as the Built Tech Facility Jail and Cretin. **

**Looking forward to more fan-based submissions for chapter work. **

**-Enjoy**

* * *

><p><strong>Dust in the wind<strong>

"_Man, I know Amy is going to pummel me when I see her again… but I think I made the right choice"_ Sonic thought as he fought the shadow soldiers with their grotesque visage. Their stick-like bodies made the oddest arrangement of sounds when the broke under his kicks, popping and fizzing into the darkness of the sewer tunnel.

"Come on, if this is all you got, then I'm amazed people haven't eradicated you all" the hedgehog said cockily

The shadow outlined stick people looked at him and hissed as they faded into the shadows behind them, leaving the hedgehog in an abandoned sewer system. A faint humming could be heard above him, such a sound that a generator would make.

"_Sounds like it is time for me to roam the streets"_ he grinned as he climbed up and out of the system.

The city had a nice evening glow to it, as the sun set behind the towering complexes. The street lamps switched on, illuminating the streets and washing away the shadows of the world. People roamed the street with mindless ambition, heading to their homes or clubs, as to pass the night away. Sonic looked around to see what he could even do in the town, and found a nearby bar with some name that he couldn't even begin to read.

He strolled into the bar, and saw a few patrons there, drinking what appeared to be either motor oil or grease (honestly, he couldn't tell). He took up a seat on the bar and tried to order something for an organic life form.

"Hey barkeep, ya got any water for a thirsty hedgehog?" he asked

"Mineral water alright?" the barkeep replied

"Yeah, sure why not" he said, fishing out some rings to pay

"That'll be 1200 rings" the barkeep said, giving him a decently filled mug

"_1200 rings for water! This town is insane with prices"_ Sonic thought as he handed the rings over "I take it you guys don't have much water or something?" he asked out of curiosity

"Nope, those are 'luxury' purchases, thus they come at a luxury price" the barkeep chuckled as he pocketed the rings

"Damn" Sonic agreed as he drank from the mug. The people mindlessly talked about the most obscure of topic, spanning from politics to general gossip. A good half-hour past and Sonic was getting bored of hiding under Metal Sonic's nose, so he begun to get up to leave when a note was slid to him from the barkeep.

"It's from a 'friend' in the bar" the barkeep said, tilting his head right to gesture to a door that swung close

'Try the west district where a shop named 'Stardust' exists. –T' the note read, giving Sonic a smile. "_Thanks again Thoice"_ he thought as he strolled out onto the street and looked around for directions.

He found a board up on the street, which had a small assortment of papers and flyers attached to it. But one in particular caught Sonic's eye, the one that was a small map of Metaltropolis, which happened to have a small compass in the corner. "_Perfect"_ he thought as he figured which was west.

He walked around the district, looking for this 'Stardust' named shop as the lights from the lamps flickered with boredom and the cold gust of air ran between the street's alleys at intermittent intervals.

"_Geez Metal, can't warm up your city with your cold heart, I see"_ Sonic thought with a grin as he finally found his destination. 'Stardust: Repairs and Antiques'. "_This has to be the place"_ he thought as he opened the door, seeing an 'Open' sign in the window.

**Ring-a-ding** The bell jingled, as the door swung open and Sonic walked inside. There was a man at the counter, wearing a thick jacked over himself and seemingly mindlessly polishing some type of antique

"Excuse me, sir." Sonic attempted to ask "Would you by chance know what this note was trying to say?"

"Note ya'll say?" the man replied, not taking his eyes of whatever he was working on and keeping his back turned to the hedgehog and almost sounding as if his voice was synthesized… or just old.

"Yeah, I had a note to show up here…" Sonic tried to explain "_I got a bad feeling about this"_ ran the thought in his mind

"Gee, seems mighty foolish of some young'n to just that there take that note ya'll have there and blindly follow it" the man replied, still working on whatever craft he had and having a slight cough in his voice

"Look, can you help me or not?" Sonic asked, mixing rage and the uncomfortable feeling of being in this shop. So he walked up to the counter, keeping a safe distance between him and the shop keeper, but still trying to be more friendly

He looked around and saw broken toys and shattered parts on shelves, the eyes of dolls started at him almost as if they could see into him. The only sound, other than the man's constant polishing sounds was that of a small hum behind the counter, almost musical and almost menacingly at the same time. The moon's eerie glow pushed through the window, casting its unnatural glow into the store, and making the dolls almost seem alive.

"I'm afraid I can't 'help' you Sonic the Hedgehog" the man replied, the distinct sound of a button being pressed being heard. The windows slammed closed and bars threaded themselves through the wall to affix themselves across the window. The door followed suite and the room was boxed in.

The dolls fell to the floor, as the shelves were pulled back to reveal a series of console computers and monitors, their beeping and churning being added to the noiseless room. The floor lit up and a glass tube slid it's self up to encase Sonic in his own environment.

"Seems kind of redundant Metal Sonic, locking the windows and door up just to do the same thing Eggman has done to me… twice now?" Sonic mocked the stranger behind the counter

The covered man turned to reveal a hedgehog with green fur and alternating colored eyes, one pink and one blue. Some large device was over the mouth, seeming to alter her voice for the conversation. Upon turning around to see Sonic in the container, the stranger had the device retreat into the hood.

"Sorry Sonic, but you are needed elsewhere. As for sealing the doors, it was so Metal Sonic couldn't stop me from sending you off to help" she said frantically, pressing buttons behind the desk in a frantic level of desperation. Her voice seemed genuine in wanting to help him however, but he still had a certain level of confusion and anger being locked into a tube

"Wait! Who are you?" he cried out, tapping against the glass

As soon as he asked, the heavy sound of metal against metal could be heard outside, as Metal Sonic's army of bots were no-doubt beginning to attempt to open up the establishment.

"You'll know later, when the time is right. Now go, GO and help the others!" she cried out, pressing some final button. The projector that happened to be above Sonic opened up, and bright light poured out of it.

The light covered the glass tube, humming ever louder and filling his very body with energy he recognized as Chaos energy. But before he even had a chance to ask anything else, he was whisked through the warp-gate to some unknown destination.

The last thing he saw was the door being busted down and this green-furred hedgehog picking up some type of gunning and shooting wildly at the knocked down door.

**Bzzrt**

Sonic was thrown into some type of jail cell, alone in the small room. He was still fully clothed and geared with his rings and necklace, but that didn't answer any questions. "_What the heck just happened!"_ he couldn't help but ask himself.

He looked around as to see if there was a way out of the cell, and ultimately could not find one. Then, a red light turned on over the cage and a pair of robotic hands came out of the wall and surprised him, as one grabbed him by the torso and held him to the wall, while the other was carrying some type of collar. The hand affixed the collar to his neck, and then pressed some button on it that initiated some low beep. After that, the hands left just as quickly as they attacked him.

"The heck was that!" he cried out, hitting the ground and feeling the 'necklace' he just acquired.

"Greetings [Convict] to the Built Tech Facility. You're here for [crime] and will be let go after [time allotted]. You are here to help further the glorious cause of your lord and master, Metal Sonic, by helping to mine rich darkmondium. You will work from the early hours of the day to the late hours of night, let known to you by systematic beeps at three hour intervals. Lunch will be served on the double beat, and dinner on a triple beat. Sleep is after closing, at which guards will lead you back to your cell. Any attempt to escape will result in painful applications through your correctional collar. Enjoy your stay [convict]." Some voice in his collar told him, after going quite.

"Ok… so I'm in jail… so either I bust out… or wait for Amy to bust me out" he said with a laugh, testing the strength of his bars. "They seem weak enough" he grinned as he did a quick spin dash and knocked his bars down.

He then ran down the hall, trying to pull his collar off the entire time. "Damn thing should frigg'n pop off!" he cursed as he entered some large hall. It was essentially vacant, except for a few guards roaming around. He could tell because they not only had weapons, but also weren't organic, as they floated around with hovering rockets and were outfitted with much more weaponry that being a prison guard would require.

"_Damn… ok, so I don't want to have to fight these guys…"_ he thought carefully, sneaking back around the corner. He heard a humming sound, and looked up to see a camera pivoting over to him "_Time to move"_ he smirked as he quickly dove under the camera's view angle to avoid detection.

"_Alright… I need to be fast… check" _he smirked "_Also, I need to not be seen or heard by cameras of guards. Most likely that would only cause this damn collar to go off, and who knows what that'll do"_ he winced, knowing Metal Sonic's cruelty; it was most likely something on the borderline of death.

He quickly dove down the hallway, avoiding as much detection as possible. He dove under panning cameras, and hid from the moving patrols, all in a desperate attempt to avoid being seen until he could figure a way out of this jail. "_Why did that chick even send me here? Who am I suppose to free?"_ he thought, thinking back to what she said as she sent him here.

He kept buzzing down the corridors until he came across some complex within the facility, where the prisoners were kept. There were floors of jail cells, all neatly placed within easy watching view to an army of cameras and drones patrolling the area mindlessly. And albeit the prisoners seemed numerous, and Sonic had some dying urge to save them, he knew he wouldn't be able to in his current predicament.

"Blast… there has to be a way" he thought aloud, tapping the dirt with his shoe, and he looked down and saw there were still the shoes that Silver… err… Thoice gave him. "_Right… and if I go fast enough_" he thought, remembering how Amy accused him of using Chaos Control. He smirked, knowing what he was going to do now.

He quickly ran back the way he came, to build up a good distance to run, and then sprinted down the hall, watching the search lights just stopped where they were and the light seemed to flicker in pulses as he burst through the compound. He ran across the rows of convicts, seeing them sit there in distance, until one stood out from the rest.

This convict was sitting there, with his grey fur and white tips on his quills. His hedgehog physique had green eyes adorned to it, and he seemed old beyond his age, and yet, he was waving back at Sonic defying the Chaos Control-like substance Sonic was running through. "_I have to talk to this guy"_ he thought, thinking back to the girl who sent him here, and still trying to find reasons to justify what she did.

Sonic ran back, quickly opened the door, since they were locked with electrical locks, and closed it before anyone else was the wiser.

"Greetings speedhog" the man said in a wizened voice "I am Alexzander, but you may call me Alex" the man said, offering his hand to Sonic

"Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog" he replied, shaking the stranger's hand. "So, I have to know, how did you defy the time-stopping effects of my speed?" he asked

"You simply bend time around you child, I can sense this gift is new to you?" Alex asked, as Sonic nodded yes to him "I see, well it works by stretching time around you so that it seems nothing else is moving, but in actuality everything else is going the same speed, but you are simple running through the frames of time, giving you the appearance that nothing else is moving. When in truth, they could see you, if they'd just open their eyes." He finished

"Amazing…" Sonic said, thinking of how to thank Thoice later "But… how did you … know?" Sonic asked

"I'd dabbled in such arts" the man replied "I don't have the body to contain the power, unlike someone so naturally attuned to speed as yourself" he compliment Sonic "but I have the mind to see it still" he said plainly

"Nifty, what else can you do, if you don't mind me asking?" Sonic said, leaning against the bars to ask

"I can bend and manipulate the element of water to my will and alter the visions of others with my mind" he said plainly

"Whoa…" Sonic said, as he blew a whistle in praise "How does one learn all that?" he asked

"Through years of tedious practice" he said shortly "But the real question, Sonic, is how did you end up in our 'humble little town' so suddenly?" the man asked

"I was sent here by some girl with green hair and a gun…" he replied, unable to really say much more than that

Alex's eyes opened up in happiness for a second and closed back to normally just as quickly. "Good, so everything is working to plan then?" he asked

"Plan? What plan?" Sonic asked

"Don't be coy with me Sonic, you know Thoice correct?" he asked

"Well… yes. But I don't see what that has to do with anything" he said

"Everything really. If you still believe you are the 'bane' to Metal Sonic's plans, you are but the 'Queen' to the 'King' piece Thoice plays in this game of chess against the cruel tyrant" Alex said, as he took a seat

"Wait! What!" Sonic exclaimed, walking over to him "Explain how the heck that even happens" he asked, confused by the chain of events

"It is a long story to tell" Alex said "But I'll let you know what Thoice allotted me to say" he said with a chuckle

"I'm listening" Sonic replied, sitting down and staring intensely at Alex through his hands, waiting to contemplate everything that was told to him.

"Well, I must first back up and explain my life a little bit, to put this into context." He begun, summoning some water to fill a cup on his night stand, and taking a light drink "I begun as but a simple hedgehog, never blessed with any of the abilities our people seem to have inherently" he said, gesturing to Sonic's shoes "But, I later learned that I possessed the gift of intellect, allowing me to learn and master a skill. I chose to stay with the power of the mind, and would ultimately gain the power to do what I told you earlier" he said with a grin

"While I was young and attempting to learn, I bumped into a man much older than I. He took an interest in me, for reasons I'll never fully know, and taught me how to bend simple water with my mind. The man was a white ocelot…" he hinted, to which Sonic grinned at the hint

"Afterwards, he had to leave to go prepare for something else in the 'fate' he'd call it" Alex said with a reflective smile "And I continued down the path of learning this. I would then join a monastery and master the art, have a family and two beautiful sons and a daughter" he said with a smile

"But, then came Metal Sonic" he said with a frown "The man searched for me, having somehow learned that I knew of Thoice 'The enlighten' as us monks called him" he said with a laugh "When I refused to tell him where to find Thoice, since he did leave me a way to contact him if need be, I was sentenced here, to this jail until I either die or talk"

"Once here, I found myself some freedom one night, by bending reality in my cell and making it appear as me sleeping. Whereas, in actuality, I used the scroll Thoice gave me as a child and summoned a way to talk to him. He told me to wait until a blue hedgehog would show up, to which I should look 'extra' careful at finding" he laughed "And now, after a good few years of waiting and biding my time, you have come here to fulfill the prophecy" he grinned

"So... lemme get this straight" Sonic said, trying to not laugh and be rude "you met Thoice as a kid, became a monk, got important enough for Metal to come after you, and were told by a piece of paper to wait for me?" he said incredulously

"Correct. Funny how Mobius works, isn't it?" the man mused

"Insane really… I don't know whether to slap some sense into you, or shake your hand" Sonic laughed

"There is more Sonic, we have to escape now. I can't keep the illusion up that I'm alone in this cell much longer, and these cameras are programmed to send up a red-alert if they see anything that looks like you" Alex said calmly

"Alright then, let's bail" Sonic said, preparing to open the door

"I'm afraid it isn't that easy" he said "I have another I have to bring alone with us, Thoice told me that he was important, and I've learned to not argue with him" he chuckled

"Fair enough, we can get him on the way out… which… I hope you know that part" Sonic laughed

"I do, don't worry. Your friend with the green fur told me that one, the girl has a way with escape plans that makes me worry who her parents are at times" the man laughed as he followed Sonic out

"Wait… so you know her?" Sonic asked as the two walked down the flight of stairs

"Let's see… we are looking for …. There he is" Alex said, ignoring Sonic's question purposely.

Sonic looked to see an oddity of hedgehogs before him. The man was young, perhaps his mid-twenties. He has strong muscles and a tight chest with clear muscle there as well. His fur was that of a shade of yellow, with streaks of black thrown through it in random order. His eyes were red as chaos emeralds and a certain power seemed to resonate from the man.

"You sure he is on our side?" Sonic whispered

"What a good question, but you never really know now do you?" he asked quizzically as he addressed the cell mate "Greetings Nagatar, you ready to leave?" he asked

"It 'bout time Alex" the man said, in his dark voice. Not dark as in evil, but dark as in someone who would of smoked a lot in their life. "Who this?" he asked, pointing at Sonic

"Why he is our reason for leaving" Alex replied as he gestured his hand over the door and watched as the door slid open. Nagatar walked out and sized himself up against Sonic, dwarfing the blue hedgehog in muscle by far.

"Ya seem weak 'hog, why that?" he asked Sonic

"I fight another way" Sonic replied smugly

"We see" Nagatar said, as he followed Alex down the walkway

"_Odd guy… wonder why he is important"_ Sonic thought as he followed them

They walked for a good distance, leaving the place of convicts behind them. Then upon entering some abandoned section of the prison, Alex fell to the ground and panted heavily

"My word, I've never had to keep up so many illusions for so long" he panted

"Wait… so we are now live?" Sonic asked, looking around with a certain grin on his face, itching to fight

"I'm afraid so" Alex chuckled "We best make haste to the escape" he said, struggling up

"And where is that again?" Sonic asked

"Just follow, ok tiny" Nagatar said, running down the hallway

"What is with him?" Sonic asked Alex as he helped the man up

"Oh, please excuse Nagatar, he has had a rough life" Alex said, gesturing his hand over Sonic's collar. The device simply fell off, as did Alex's and Nagatar's. "I disabled ours years ago, but you needed some freedom if you are to help us" he said quizzically

"Thanks, you got to teach me that sometime" Sonic joked

"I'd love to, but it really can't be taught to you, sorry" Alex apologized "As for Nagatar… well I'll tell you what I know as you protect me from any attackers, as I'm far too weak to want to fight." He chuckled

"Ok, deal" Sonic grinned, walking along side the old man

"Nagatar was born a small hedgehog, and grew as the … 'runt of the litter' as it were" he said "Having been picked on for his childhood, he spent much of his adolescence bulking up his muscle so that he would be able to fight with anyone who dared challenge him" Alex said plainly

"_Sounds like a certain Knuckle-head I know…"_ Sonic grinned

"He did so well, that he eventually joined in to some type of… 'fighter's arena' and fought for wealth and fame" Alex grinned "But all things must end, and in Nagatar's case, painfully. He fought an opponent far outstripping his power, and took quite a beating" Alex said

"Like what kind of beating?" Sonic asked, checking the hallway for any attackers, seeing Nagatar way up ahead beating some drones into a scrap pile

"The 'wake up in an emergency room' kind" Alex said, and Sonic whistled in surprise to that "But fate was kind. A radical fan of his, Mickkie was by his side. You see, she was a blue cat that was smitten by Nagatar. The two would eventually 'tie the knot' and have three proud sons" Alex said happily

"Wow… I fail to see why such a great man would… be so … like that" Sonic said, gesturing to the destructive hedgehog

"I'm getting there" Alex laughed "Nagatar was someone who always settled his debts and took revenge" Alex hinted at "So, when he learned Metal Sonic was testing a type of robot against him, and that was why he woke up in an emergency room, he wanted to even the score" Alex said

"So… he pissed off the metal tyrant" Sonic concluded

"Correct. He snuck into Metaltropolis and stole some type of important artifact from the metal monstrosity" Alex said "When Metal Sonic figured out, he hunted down our friend relentlessly" Alex said

"Anyone who does that much to Metal is a friend of mine" Sonic said happily

"Well… Metal found out. He captured his family and honestly, we don't even know if they are alive or not" Alex said woefully "When Nagatar went to try and save his family, Metal captured him and tortured him to talk about the stolen artifact. Much like me, he refused to talk and here was his sentence" Alex concluded

"Wow… tough life" Sonic agreed

"It really was… but through extensive training here, he is a valuable asset" Alex winked

"Wait…" Sonic said, slowly catching on "What did you teach him?"

"Watch" Alex said, pointing at the fight

Nagatar was in the middle of fighting a swath of E-series robots, rushing in to try and subdue the attacker. He howled with delight and some shadow like energy seemed to crawl out from his fur, and coat his arms. They lengthened and became almost blade-like, giving the appearance that his arms were giant scythes. The yellow in his fur begun to crackle and send pulses of electricity down the 'scythe-arms' and he rushed towards the attackers, hacking them up into an explosive mess.

The robots would fire their rockets in vain, only to have the projectiles diced in midair, and their bodies to follow suit. Nagatar only seemed to grow more and more 'blood-thirsty' as the fight went on, dismembering his attackers in more inventive and violent ways, and his laughter slowly became more insane as time went on.

"Excuse me Sonic, I do believe the power is over-taking him again" Alex said, lifting his hands up to do something. Suddenly, Nagatar's weapons dissipated and he fell over limply. Alex staggered for a second, and Sonic knew he had to help.

Sonic rushed in to attack the E-series attackers, bouncing off them with his foot and kicking another one away. He channeled his energy into his hand, and swung it down like Shadow would for his 'chaos spears' and sent a gust of wind in that direction, slicing through a row of robots and causing a resulting explosion.

"_No wonder Shadow loves doing that!"_ Sonic grinned foolishly. He stayed around to destroy enough to secure their escape and grabbed the unconscious Nagatar and rushed to where Alex was waiting, behind some door way.

Sonic grabbed Alex in the other hand and the three rushed quickly throughout the compound, Sonic being lead by Alex's direction. They came to a gate slamming close in front of them, and a huge line of larger and more deadly looking E-series robots in front of them.

"Sonic, I sure hope you know what you are doing. Our deaths are not part of this plan" Alex warned

"Oh, you wanted to see speed, didn't you?" Sonic asked rhetorically as he begun to pick up speed. The gate seemed to lurch ever slower and the robots seemed as if they were frozen in amber, dully looking back with their ever-slowing arms being raised.

"Amazing… truly… breathtaking!" Alex exclaimed, as the whole world crawled to a virtual standstill as the three hedgehogs made their way out of the facility.

Sonic did not slow down, but instead, speed up to put as much distance between him and the facility. Alex navigated him across the bridge and through this massive cave they were in. They soon left the depths of the darkness and saw the moon looking back at them.

"We can stop here for a second, I need to attend to Nagatar and you could take a breather" Alex said, and Sonic grunted in agreement. They stopped in a thicket of trees, and Sonic fell on his back and watched the sky as he panted.

_"Damn Thoice, you definitively gave me the right gear"_ he thought, thinking of the new speed he attains and the 'chaos-wind-spear-thing' he just did

Alex wove his hand over Nagatar, and the hedgehog jumped awake startled

"WHERE AM I!" the man cried out, throwing his electric energy out at a nearby tree

"Calm down Nagatar, we are free now thanks to our friend" Alex said ever so calmly, as he gestured to Sonic "And better yet, he is here to help us" he finished

"The pipsqueak actually saved us Alex?" the man asked quizzically, to which Alex nodded a simple yes "I trust you Alex, so you… kid. Thanks" Nagatar said, as he got up and dusted himself off

"So… what's the plan now, Alex?" Sonic asked

"Quite simple really" the man replied "There is a town north of here called 'Coretin', we are to make haste to it" he said

"So… what, like a minute?" Sonic laughed

"You'd think so, but you need to be in fighting shape, and rushing us the way you did out of the cave again will most certainly be detrimental" Alex said

"So…. Then what?" Sonic asked

"We walk… gee, ever hear of it?" Nagatar mocked as he started walking down the path

"Exactly, well put" Alex agree and followed

"_I thought I was rather rude…"_ Sonic thought mockingly as he walked alongside Alex "So… tell me, what are we to do when we get to this 'Coretin'?" he asked

Alex simply lifted his finger to his mouth and signaled the 'quiet' phase of their journey

The three jogged under the moon light, cautiously listening for any type of patrol after them. Much time passed, and finally Alex turned to Sonic and decided now was the time to talk

"You asked what we do, I'll let you know." He said "We are going to join a resistance movement and topple the dictator of the city. Don't you kids live for this kind of stuff?" he asked

"You'd think so, but it is so commonplace for me" Sonic said earnestly "Is it too much to settle down and enjoy life and the beauty of Mobius and not have to fight every other month against some type of villain?" Sonic asked

"Sadly, that is the life of the 'hero'. We praise him, we worship him and we use him to teach lessons… but no one has a lonelier life than him, and we make sure to never pass that trait on" Alex said "Sure, he has friends and family and heck, maybe a lover or two. But he never truly has the freedom he craves, the freedom from the tyranny of saving this planet." Alex stated

"Wow… that's deep. I want to argue and all…. But really, that sums it up" Sonic said plainly, blinking a few times in disbelief "So… what of Thoice then?" he asked

"He wants to give up his 'throne' as it were" Alex said "But I can say, in the short time I knew him, that he never will find his peace" Alex said with a tear rolling down his face "The man is destined to fight for freedom until his dying day, never finding the peace you'll find soon enough" Alex said

"Wait… I'm going to find peace?" Sonic asked, wiping his own tear away

"We all find peace at some point Sonic, it is just a question of how much you willing to search for it?" Alex said tactfully "All but Thoice, his fate is destined to be cruel and painful for him, but I have no idea for why" he said

"Go figure, that guy always seems to be a few steps ahead of everyone, maybe it's the price of his power" Sonic said hopefully

"I wouldn't know, but if so, that seems to only make his life crueler" Alex said "Can you imagine a life where the fact you possess speed is your only curse to life?" Alex asked

"Wait… what would that even be like?" Sonic asked

"Think about it, a life where you are never allowed to take residence anywhere. A life where you are forced to always roam the world and abandon all friends you would ever make" Alex said "That must be what it feels like to be Thoice" Alex thought aloud

"Wow… if that is true…" Sonic thought "Then… I'm glad he has that curse and not me" he finished "_Not having my friends… is … almost unthinkable"_ he thought

"What you girls talking about?" Nagatar teased

"Just talking about the resistance" Alex said half-honestly

"Oh, good. I'm looking forward to making Metal lose an army for each hair he has touched on my darling kids and beautiful wife" he said menacingly

"Now Nagatar, we are going to be civil about this and plan the fights accordingly. I don't want you rushing into the middle of Metaltropolis and smashing the city flat" Alex said with a chuckle

"Oh don't mind me Alexzander, I just want to crush a few good bots between my hands just to relieve some stress, and then ball up Metal into a pile of scrap for revenge. Then I can live in peace with my family" he said happily enough, facing forward and wordlessly jogging

"See… and that is why, I believe, Thoice paired us up with him. The man has simple goals and most of the means to do so" Alex claimed

"Wait… so …. He is an endless wrecking ball, metaphorically?" Sonic asked

"Less metaphoric than you'd think" Alex grinned "he is capable for fighting for days on end, feeding on the dark energy this world has. What do you think were in those caves?" Alex asked

"_Mining Darkmondium…"_ the echo of the collar said in Sonic's head "So… what was that 'darkmondium' stuff?" he asked

"I don't have to tell you, since you've already fought some of what it created" Alex replied

"You mean those stick people?" he asked, thinking back to the sewers

"Yes, those would be them. The 'Darkoids' they are called, and dark they most certainly are" he answered "Albeit, I don't know who or how they are created by and for, respectfully, I do know they are no laughing matter" Alex claimed

"They seemed easy enough" Sonic said

"And they are, in small numbers. But how about a few thousand? Million? Billion?" Alex asked, to each Sonic thought just how much that would be "From what I know, they come in different shapes and sizes, varying in powers and abilities" he said

"Makes sense, wouldn't be 'fair' if they were all normal" Sonic laughed

Alex laughed at that remark "Quite, but yes, they are harvested from all the 'sin' that Mobius has collected, as well as the other negative energy collected throughout the ages and… perhaps, the galaxy" Alex said "To be blunt, they are the physical embodiment of 'evil'…. Sorta" he said cryptically

"Wow… I guess Thoice would know" Sonic said

"Most certainly, but he seems far to bust keeping Metal Sonic busy to be able to drop in and answer our questions whenever he wants" Alex said

"But you had that scroll to talk to him" Sonic said

"Yeah… one time" Alex said "it was a onetime use, and it more than served its purpose" Alex said

"Blast… then I guess we really are up to his mercy of wanting to show up" Sonic cursed

"I trust that cat with my life, why do you find it so hard to do?" Alex asked

"_Because I'm not an idiot?"_ Sonic wanted to say "I dunno… I guess… I don't have too much trust in him." He thought aloud

"Good enough reason. You probably don't know him too well" Alex concurred

"I'd say. I barely got to meet him, and then he has been randomly popping up all over my life to help" Sonic said with a laugh

"At least someone is" Alex reasoned "Imagine just how much more difficult this would all be without his help" Alex said

"Impossible really…" he agreed "Next time I see him, I'll be sure to say thanks" Sonic said earnestly

"Good, just trust him to do the best for Mobius" Alex said "He has been for over a thousand years, seems only fitting that he would try to stop Metal Sonic as well" Alex said with a laugh as the city showed up over the horizon

The city had a beacon of searchlights lined up across the walls, and gun emplacements matching them. The outside of the city was ravaged and destroyed, with burned down trees and bubbling water that mimicked the appearance of oil.

"Wait… what?" Sonic asked as Alex put his finger up to his mouth to silence him.

The three walked up to the entrance, where two large robotically outfitted rhinos stood, with massive guns in their hands. The men looked at Sonic, then the other two hedgehogs with their eyes, before so much as even hinting that they were going to say something

"State your business" the left one said

"Simple travelers, here for some rest and relaxation from a weary travel" Alexzander said craftily

The guard seemed to react differently at first, but then a slight shiver was sent down his body and he repositioned himself and looked down at the travelers, as if what happened, never did.

"Very well, might I recommend 'The Cat's Meow' for bedding" he replied, tapping some button on his wrist that opened the gate up. The trio of hedgehogs walked in and heard the metal close behind them.

The street was empty, with but a few walkers occasionally passing by. The street lamps flickered lazily and the city seemed built almost entirely out of stone and war. They walked down the street until they came up to a large building complex named 'The Cat's Meow'.

"This was the place" Nagatar pointed out

"Correct, let us inquire within" Alex said as the trio went inside

A large mouse behind the counter noticed them and pressed some button on the desk. He then greeted the trio casually.

"Might you want a room?" the man asked

"A room would be most welcome" Alex said politely

"Very well, I'll see if I have any open" the mouse said, as he looked in his ledger "Aw, yes quite. I have a nice two-bed room for you two" the mouse said

"Wait… two?" Alex asked "Sir there are three of us" he begun to say

"I know, but he" the mouse said, pointing at Sonic "Already has another room"

"No I don't…." he begun to say as he heard an energetic voice cry from atop a staircase

"SOOOONIC!"

* * *

><p><strong>Ok, the party is back together, good. Now i just have ... 6 characters is it? or 7... i know and you won't till next chapter, haha. But yeah, i'll be blunt, the next like... 3 chapters... expect resistance movement stuff and ... well battles. And, since Amy has Sonic back, expect a gushing amount of 'lovey-dovey' stuff to happen between them, because they missed themselves so much.<strong>

**:3**

**anywhoodle, i would appreaciate a FEMALE (or female-minded... or romance-minded) Beta Reader to help edit the next chapter, as it WILL be romantically entangled. If you're interested, but are like "cool idea but F*CK reading" then PM me and we can just bounce some ideas. It would mean a lot to me, since i hate having to read sappy romance stories to figure out how to match certain elements...**

**At anyrate, PM or review me to leave your O.C.'s and such, if ya want. Hit up the Forum for detailed bios and my profile page has the link for the forum AS WELL as summaries of all the chapters in my story, with the 'one-chapter-ahead' system, so you can be 'spoiled' to what happens NEXT TIME! **

**Peace, Love, and stuff**

**Steven 'ZiGeNaToR' ziegler**


	5. The fireworks before the shrapnel

**Author's note:**

**So... April 8th is my birthday, so i'd be far too busy to even attempt writing then (tomorrow at the time of this post) so i'll give the internet a gift on behalf of me, Chapter 5 of the story you people seem to love so damn much. But, being a gift to myself... ;D**

**Enjoy the read, and as always check the blurp below for more**

* * *

><p><strong>The fireworks before the shrapnel<strong>

"Ok, so I take it you two would like a room?" the mouse asked, as Amy had tackled Sonic to the ground and mindlessly been cuddling into him, despite his attempts to push her off

"I don't see why not" Alexzander said as the mouse handed him the key "Thanks"

"No problem, get some rest" the mouse said as he closed the desk and walked off to the main lobby for some much needed rest.

"Amy… ugh… too much" Sonic said as she cuddled him

"Sonic! I thought I had lost you after what we went through!" she cried out into his shoulder "Don't you ever just leave me again" she threatened

"… If I promise that can I breathe?" he asked jokingly

*harrumph* was her reply, as she got off of him and stormed up the staircase without him

"Wait! Ames!" he called out "What'd I do!" he asked the room

"Seems to me, partner" Nagatar chimed in "That she wanted you to return her feelings, and you turned it into a joke. Best if you go apologize" he said simply

"Oh…. OH! Thanks man" Sonic cried back to the hedgehog as he leapt up the stairs and down the hallway to Amy opening her door

"What do you want?" she said defensively

"Ames, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to insult our relationship or anything, I was just joking" he said tactfully

"I know, but still…" she said hurt "you always do… when you pushed me away to go back into the city to bait Metal Sonic away from us…. I thought I'd lost you…" she said tearfully

"Aww, Ames" Sonic replied as he walked forward and held her close "I would never let anything stop me from being there for you" he whispered into her ear

She silently cried into his shoulder for a couple seconds longer, and pulled away and kissed him. Their lips intertwined, and he held her as close as she held him. The kiss was of pure passion and forgiveness, as she broke away from him.

"I forgive you" she said quietly "But we need to get some sleep, we have a lot of work tomorrow" she said as she led him into the room.

The room was dark, as it was roughly two in the morning. The only light was from that of the moon, thus making the room seem almost as if it were carved from shadow, giving everything that had a reflective surface a sinister nature. Amy led Sonic to the bed, and the two got into the sheets together.

Sonic reluctantly removed his shoes, just remembering how much those things have helped him that day. "_I mean, seriously… if I didn't have these suckers, Metal Sonic would have won already"_ he thought as he placed them down on the floor gently

Amy grabbed Sonic and cuddled up against him. They shared three quick kisses, and then proceeded to fall asleep together with Sonic holding her tightly as she slept and her returning her feelings with an angelic purr that gave Sonic peace of mind.

The night trudged on without a sound, and Sonic was actually able to close his eyes and pass into dream land peacefully where he dreamt the oddity of dreams.

***dream sequence***

Sonic was walking in some country side of some town that appeared to be built with springs and cogs. A sign was over the entrance of the city that read 'Galextrium'.

"Where have I heard that name before?" he asked aloud, knowing he had heard it at some point

"Why from me of course" rang a familiar voice

Sonic panned around to look right at Thoice, who was sitting under a tree nearby and writing in a small book

"Whoa Thoice, whatcha doing here and what ya writing?" Sonic asked

"I lived here Sonic… as for what I write… best you don't know" he said as he tucked it away. His appearance was much different than the last time Sonic had seen him, namely for he wore glasses.

Asides from the glasses, he had an entirely different attire altogether. His cloak had been traded in for a nice suit, with a black and white-accented dress shirt and black pants with white pinstripes down them. He had an air of elegance with him, as if he was beyond simply being royalty, and Sonic could sense it wasn't just the clothes that made those feelings real.

"So… I guess you summoned me for something?" Sonic asked

"I know, the life of the hero is never dull… long have I lusted for the days when I could just sleep in for once and not have some paranormal being pull me away to talk, have an atrocious nightmare of the future or be tortured in my memories…" Thoice said in agreeance "But I'll make this quick so that you may actually enjoy some much-needed sleep" he said as he walked down a path and gestured Sonic to follow him

"Ok… so you know I'm in Coretin with Amy?" Sonic asked

"And then some" he replied "But I am here to answer a question you have and tell you a fact you need to know. Which one you want first?" he replied

"_Good question… what would I even ask?" _he thought, thinking of the green-haired hedgehog "Ok, I want my question first" he said smugly, and Thoice held his hand up to stop him there

"The green-haired girl that has helped you to traverse to the jail was of my own concoction, yes… but let her tell you who she is as you will be seeing her sooner than later" he replied

"_How did he… know I was going to ask that?"_ Sonic thought nervously looking at Thoice, who seemed as if there wasn't a care in the world. In fact, Thoice seemed to actually be at peace for once in his life and in control of his psyche

"I'll answer your own question for you" he said simply "The kid, Jacob that you brought with you is actually more than just a kid" he said cryptically

"Wait… as in what then?" Sonic asked, again feeling weird that Thoice knew what he was thinking of again

"As in, Metal Sonic wants the kid. Thus, you have a piece of Metal Sonic's chessboard. If you are wise, you'll hold onto this piece for as long as you can, and try not to be checkmated" he said with a black humor

"I'll try" Sonic chuckled "_Wait... chessboard…"_ he thought, thinking back to what Alex said to him in the jail.

"And as for the fact, yes… I am the metaphorical 'king' of our team. I'm sorry if you ego can't handle that change of events, but just know I'm doing everything I can to weigh the better future of Mobius to happen" Thoice said with a certain sadness in his voice

"_Doesn't he have some crushing despair in his life or something?"_ Sonic thought as he listened to Thoice "Thanks man, oh and extra thanks for the shoes. They totally helped me out"

"Your welcome, and yes Sonic I do have 'crushing despair' in my life" he said sadly "But that is just the game we play… we are a chess team that doesn't have a queen set up" he said cryptically

"I thought I was?" Sonic replied as he was certain he was that metaphoric piece

"Yes and no" Thoice said with a weak laugh "You are the most important piece we have, don't you worry. I may topple, but the game plays on without kings… sort of a 'no-hold' type deal" he said darkly "But no… I was mentioning another 'player' all together." He said tactfully

"_His … dead or whatever girlfriend?"_ he thought

Thoice seemed to have a deep sadness in his eyes when he turned to Sonic and stopped in the road

"I brought you here to show you what my life used to be… look around at the peace I once had" he instructed. Sonic looked, and saw that the world was not only calmer than usual… but that Mobius itself felt more at peace. He really couldn't explain how he knew that, but it felt as if there was no need to always be on the defensive… and he cherished the feeling

"Whoa Thoice…. How did you world ever achieve this?" he asked

"I wouldn't know where to begin" he joked "But this all died for me because of love… because I was destined to be something I never wanted…" he said as he shed a tear, which Sonic couldn't believe that such a person had feelings still "Sonic… don't lose Amy… life isn't worth living with only yourself to wake up to" he said as the world faded to black

***End Sequence***

"Sonic, did you sleep at all last night?" Amy asked as he opened his eyes. She was on her side, looking at him with a slight tinge of worry on her face

"_Do I tell her?"_ he asked himself, thinking back to the dream. On the one hand, he knew that she was always happy to know Thoice was doing alright, but then again him getting a deprived night's sleep would only worry her… "Uhm… ya know, just a tough night to sleep near someone so beautiful" he said flirtatiously

"Oh you" she giggled and gave him a kiss "I'm going to go take a quick shower and such, so feel free to catch some Z's without me" she said joyfully as she skipped to the bathroom and proceeded to lock the door.

"_Well… one can only hope that today has some chance of being normal"_ he thought as he closed his eyes and tried to catch some peace, even if only for a couple of minutes

"Hey Sonic?" Jacob asked after what only felt like a few minutes of sleep

"_Ugh…" _he thought as he opened his eyes to see an energetic husky on the foot of the bed "What is it Jacob?" he asked, trying his best to disguise just how much the sleep deprivation annoyed him

"I wanted to thank you for sacrificing yourself for our escape here to Coretin" Jacob said earnestly "It means a lot to me, finally getting out of Metal Sonic's city of evil and … stuff" he finished

"Oh… uhm, your welcome?" Sonic replied reflexively "But what about your robot friend, can't Metal Sonic track us down with him or something like that?" Sonic asked, looking at the android in the corner of the room

"Oh, S.A.2 is on our side Sonic" the kid replied simply "We removed all tracking software and such from him, so we are 'off-the-grid' as it were" he laughed

"Oh, good. What say you and him go have breakfast or something…? I just … want some sleep…" Sonic replied as his eyes closed and he felt the tiredness take him

"Oh alright" the kid said happily as he jumped off the bed and left the room, with the unmistakable steps of a robot following after him

"_Finally some peace…"_ Sonic thought as the peaceful noise of the shower helped him into a relaxing nap-like state**. **

He felt a wet hand travel on his chest, as he did remove his shirt last night to sleep. His eyes shot awake, as he did not like water. He saw Amy lying next to him in the sheets, a towel wrapped around her and her hair down to her shoulders, clear indicators that she had just gotten out of the shower. He listened to the room and heard no running water and felt embarrassed that he didn't notice it sooner

"Hey-a hero, now that the kid is gone… ya want to be with your girl for a bit?" she asked teasingly as she cuddled up against him, her wet body drying off on him

"Cute Ames, but you're not 'my girl'…" he said almost instinctively until he realized how stupid that sounded now "I mean… not yet… or something? Cut me some slack, I'm just waking up" he laughed

"Oh I know, but I read that waking up your man with sex can be amazing… so I wanted to test its merits" she giggled "But I won't have an answer till later" she teased as she kissed him and rolled on top of him

The two kissed in-between the sheets, Amy's towel somehow staying on the entire time but her wetness dripping all over Sonic. He couldn't decide if he hated the water, or loved the moment more… but just laughed at the situation and kissed her back time and time again

A few minutes passed and they had turned from kissing to cuddling as Amy purred on top of him. "Sonic… why can't we always have this?" she whispered innocently

"Because I have enemies" he whispered back with a laugh. She giggled at the response "I mean… I wish life always was this peaceful and amazing" he continued to say

"It might be… but we have a kid to watch as well as your jail-friends" she teased as she rolled out from under the sheets. Her towel snagged the bed and she jumped up completely naked in front of Sonic

Having seen that he towel was coming off, he reflexively closed his eyes as an act of good faith between them. Immediately after he heard her feet touch the floor he thought "_Wow, great job Sonic. Sure you did the 'gentlemanly' thing, but there was your chance to see Amy completely naked"_ he chastised himself in his head

A couple seconds passed and he heard Amy sit down on the edge of the bed. "You can look you know, I have the towel back on" she said teasingly

"_Is she lying?"_ he thought, and realized there were only two ways to know for sure, that he could think of. One, reach out and feel the result, which would only be horribly inappropriate. The second was to look… having been a lot easier he took the later choice.

He opened his eyes and saw the light pink body of Amy Rose, fully exposed. He nervously closed his eyes and turned away from what he saw, somehow feeling like he shouldn't have looked, but it was far too late for he had seen everything. From her slender frame and her supple breasts, down to the gorgeous shape her body made all the way down to her legs. He passed a silent thanks that he didn't see anything else, and cursed the thought at the same time.

"_Damn it Sonic, you two sleep together and kiss all the time… and yet… I can't even look at the angelic body she possess"_ he thought lamely in his head as he heard Amy giggle

"Aw, how nice of you… but you saw everything didn't you?" she teased. He grunted a yes back to her, which only illicit more laughter "It's alright Sonic, geez. I wanted you to see the body of the girl who has chased you for years and years" she said peacefully as she turned his head back to her "Open up please" she asked

He opened his eyes, just too again see her beautiful body again "Amy… why do you want me to see?" he asked, looking into her beautiful eyes as to avoid seeing her body

"Because I want you honest opinion" she said tactfully "Look me over and tell me what you think?" she teased, as she got up and put a towel over her waist. She turned around a few times, showcasing her body in different ways as to try and appeal to Sonic's hormones, which she most certainly succeeded there. "What do you think?" she asked honestly as she sat back down

"_Wow… she has a body that … I mean … seriously"_ he thought incoherently, as the blood his brain needed for thinking was traveling another pipe altogether. "Amy… I'll just say what is on my mind, since I'm at a loss of words" he said simply "You are beyond amazing" he said with a whistle

She blushed at the praise and leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek "So, how excited did I make our little friend?" she whispered lustfully in his ear

"More than enough, you angel" he replied with a chuckle. She giggled and walked back into the bathroom to change back into her clothes, leaving a satisfied Sonic in bed.

"_Man… who would of thought our little Rosie the Rascal would of grown up to be such a beautiful woman" _he thought with a grin as he thought back to her amazing body "_I mean… if we were dating… or something…"_ he said as he started down the lusty road of thoughts.

"Ok, now take a shower you wet boy" Amy said as she came out of the bathroom "Your all wet from me… and who knows what else your covered with, you jail bird" she laughed

Even clothed, Sonic could still remember how she looked naked and it gave him a whole new way at looking at her. He tried his best to forget it, at least for now as he replied "Yeah, I'll be out in a bit Ames, how about you go meet up with Jacob and such down stairs for breakfast or something" he said absent-mindedly

"Yeah, alright" she said normally as she walked over and planted a kiss on his cheek "I'll see ya in a bit, I have plans for us today" she said with a wink as she left the room

"_I have plans for us today?"_ he thought over Amy's words with a crazed passion for the entire time he was in the shower. "_The heck she could have meant by that?"_ was his most common thought, as he plotted out all types of scenarios in his head. They stretched in all directions of probability, being lustful adventures of sexual desire to something as simple as them going out on some mission together. And as much as he assumed it was just her saying 'We have a mission together', he felt compelled to believe that it was really code for 'let's have a sexy time today'.

He walked out of the bathroom and dressed up in his clothes from yesterday quickly, donning his ring and necklace from his birthday. He walked over to the bed and tied his shoes on, and looked at the laces as he said to himself "No matter what, we have Metal Sonic to stop Sonic… Amy is … well … just Amy. Don't let her get inside your head like that"

He opened up the door to the hall and walked down to the main room to visit with everyone. He saw a few tables in a room adjacent to the main one, and the unmistakable fur of Nagatar in the room. He walked over to see two tables in use by his friends, with Nagatar and Alex at one table together and the rest at the other.

"How'd you sleep Sonic?" Alex asked with moderate interest as he lazily ate at some toast

"Pretty good actually, how was not being in a prison cot?" he asked back with a laugh

"Amazing actually, plus… I can't remember the last time I've had toast… I really missed toast, ya know?" he said profoundly as he continued to savor each bite

"You really are an odd person Alex" Sonic said with a grin "How about you Nagatar, was sleep good for you?" he asked innocently

"More or less… it'd be better if I could have my damned family back" he said shortly as he drank some orange juice

"I promise we'll get them back… but unfortunately it'd be in time…" Sonic started to say

"I flipp'n know that, ya think I didn't?" Nagatar said shortly as an electric discharge left his fur and jolted into his cup or O.J.

Sonic took that as enough reason to walk over to the other table, where Jacob was sitting down with Amy and they were talking about something or another. They looked up and waved to him to sit down with them, which he did

"So, what'd I miss?" he asked as he saw the plate in front of him with eggs and toast

"Not much" Amy said simply "And yes that is yours, I got it prepared for you since I know you would most likely be hungry" she said with a giggle

"Man, thanks a million Ames" he replied with a smirk as he ate what was before him, listening to them talk and occasionally chiming in

"So Amy" Jacob asked "I know Kane had a mission for us… but mine involves putting some type of … thing in the server room…. Isn't that like… suicide?" the kid asked

"If it was a suicide mission he'd put Sonic on it, since Sonic can do anything" she said, treating Sonic like some type of super hero to bolster the kid's self-esteem "Your mission is that of something Kane thinks you'd be capable of doing" she said simply

"And I know I can… but what if I mess up? Wouldn't the guards hunt me down?" he asked

"Well… I suppose they would" Amy said as she pondered her options "But you won't mess up, your Jacob the Gladiator" she teased "You can do anything if you put your mind to it" she said like a mother trying to raise the confidence of her kid before the doctor would give him a shot

"Your right Ames, if I can fight robotic creeps as five against one, I can sure as heck sneak into a facility and plant a device." The kid said with a happy grin "Besides, S.A.2 won't let anything bad happen to me" he went on to say

"Whoa there kid" Sonic said after he drank a small amount of tea "S.A.2 isn't going with you; robots are too loud and clunky. You need to sneak in and out like a ninja, think you can do that?" he asked

"Most likely… but without S.A.2 watching my back…" the kid said

"He didn't have your back in the arena, now did he?" Sonic pointed out "He is a great friend and all, but your capable of doing things without him being there for you" he said plainly

"I guess so… I'll go check in with Kane and see what my mission is exactly" Jacob said as he jumped out of his chair and walked off to the main room with S.A.2

"Well… great going 'dad'" Amy chastised him with a dirty look "I raise the kid's self-esteem up and you wreck it back down" she said

"Well sorry Ames, but he wanted to take a robot with him in an infiltration mission" Sonic said defensively "Excuse me for saving the kid's life, again" he said

"I'm not saying what you did was wrong" she replied defensively "Just you lacked tact in your response to him. You have to let him know that he can't have the robot with him and let him down easy at the same time" she said as though it was obvious

"Didn't I?" he replied

"You did, but it was rough around the edges" she said as she picked up the napkin and brushed something off of Sonic cheek "It's alright, you'll learn how to deal with kids later" she said with a giggle

"Yeah… you're probably right" he agreed with her, laughing. "_Wait… did she mean parenthood?"_ he just realized

"Well, since you're done with your breakfast, let's go get our mission from Kane and head on out" she said happily

"Who is this 'Kane' figure anyways?" he asked as she led him to the main room

"Oh… well… better yet, you'll just see" she replied as she led him behind the main desk to a door in the back of the room

Amy opened up the door to a small room with a few chairs and such, but nothing really 'business-like' in the room. In fact, the only oddity of the room was the door in the back.

"Hey Ames, where's that door go?" he asked

"Close that door and I'll show you" she replied walking over to the new door

"_Girls…"_ he thought with a grin as he closed the door they came from. Some click was heard and Amy opened the next door to expose an office. In the office was Jacob and S.A.2, with the husky sitting on some chair in front of a desk. Apparently having finished what he was there for, Jacob got up and said thanks to someone behind the desk and left the room, saying bye to Sonic and Amy as he passed

Sonic walked into the room to see a large eagle behind the desk, with a certain age to him. A pile of papers on his desk and maps tied up to the wall around him. A military uniform was in the corner on a coat rack, but it showed obvious Metal Sonic colors, which made Sonic jumpy as if he were walking into a trap. Amy sensed this and reached out for his hand to comfort him as the two walked to the desk

"Oh yes, Sonic the Hedgehog" the man said with a happy tone in his voice "I have waited to see you for some time now" he chuckled as he reached out to shake the hedgehog's hand "The name is General Kane Korree, but you can just call me Kane" he laughed

"Pleasure is all mine" Sonic said respectfully "So… I hear I have a mission…" he said, not sure what else to say

"Oh, right to the action eh? You young'ns never change, you know that?" he laughed "Well… 'cept for the Thoice character… if I were to guess, I'd say he is older than he looks…" he mused

"_You have no idea Kane…"_ Sonic thought with a chuckle

"Well, at any rate, your mission is really quite simple. There is a detachment of 'highly-trained soldiers' being sent here to beef'n up the security detail here…. And that doesn't sound quiet right, now doesn't it?" Kane asked

"Sound like Metal means to quash a rebellion" Sonic said with a grin

"My thoughts exactly. I want you and your Miss here to go out and 'greet' our friends, as it were. It'd be mighty fine if we didn't have to worry about reinforcements, dontchu know?" Kane said

"I get that Kane, but you sure it'll take two of us to do that?" Amy asked

"No doubt. Metal Sonic builds almost everything to work against Sonic… who I guess is what he expects to be his down falling" Kane said with a laugh "So, we have to catch him off-guard by making our 'super-soldier' even better, hence where you come in doll-face" Kane said

"Ok… so me and Ames head up so go smash some troops, when and where?" Sonic said, anticipating the fight

"Oh… see this spot here" Kane said, pointing to some clearing between Metaltropolis and Coretin "My intel says the troops will cross through there at roughly four o'clock, my goal is to have you two there waiting and ready to make sure they never get beyond that clearing" Kane said simply

"Ok, and I take it we have a 'no-prisoner' policy?" Sonic asked

"Normally I would do such things… but these are most likely simple drones sent out to attack us, so feel free to smash them all. If they happen to surrender to you or something, then you're at your own digression." Kane said simply

"_Sweet, a robot smashing party… haven't had one since Egg-Mobius"_ Sonic thought with a grin "Well alright, me and Ames will head out to scout the area and prepare the ambush. Pleasure meeting you Kane" Sonic said with a thumbs up

"The pleasure was all mine" Kane replied, attempting to return the thumbs-up gesture to which Sonic and Amy laughed. "I guess it is a young person's thing now" Kane said with a laugh as well

Amy and Sonic walked out to the room that connected the office to the inn, and closed the door. Sonic reached to open the other when Amy asked him to wait a second.

"What is it Ames?" Sonic asked, as he walked over to her

"I just … well … Kane said something last time that I haven't been able to forget" Amy said earnestly

"I dunno, he seems like a fun guy" Sonic said

"And he probably is, but no it was something about Thoice" Amy said

"_Should I tell her my dream?"_ He thought again "Ok… what about Thoice?" he asked

"He told me that Thoice told him that 'only death can save this town' and yet… that seems … almost unlike Thoice" she said worriedly

"Oh… "Sonic replied, thinking of how to reply "Most likely Thoice said something like that, and meant something totally different. You know him, saying one thing and meaning twelve other things" Sonic said with a laugh

"Yeah… probably" she said with a weak laugh "It just worried me that he would say such a thing" she said, as she had still worried and cared for Thoice.

"It's alright Ames" Sonic said as he gave her a kiss "Let's head out and smash some robots to make you feel better" he said with a grin. She smiled back and the two hedgehogs left the room and joined the rest of the party in the main room to talk about their plans for the day

"So, me and Ames have to go smash a reinforcement patrol" Sonic said with a grin "How about you two?" he asked Nagatar and Alex

"We haven't been assigned anything… but I suppose it can't hurt to help out this resistance movement" he said with a chuckle

"Hell, why not?" Nagatar said "It's either sit here and miss the life I had or destroy the life Metal Sonic had, and I'm liking the second option" he said with a grin as the two walked off to the office to talk with Kane.

"And me and S.A.2 have to go plant a device now, and don't worry" Jacob said innocently "I won't be taking S.A.2 with me, he will serve as a distraction elsewhere" the kid said happily as the two left the inn

"I sure hope the kid doesn't get captured again, he is far too much fun to have around" Sonic said as he watched the kid walk down the street

"Yeah… really is peaceful to have him around" Amy agreed "Well, let's head on out" she said with a grin

The two hedgehogs left the inn and headed out of Coretin thanks to their amazing speed, and ran up the path towards the place Kane pointed out to them. The entire run Sonic thought about Amy, and what life meant to him with her in it.

"_I mean… she used to just annoyingly chase me… and now… here we are… adventuring together. And you know what, I'm happy as ever"_ he thought, watching her run ahead of him, still retaining the beauty of an angel "_But… as long as Metal Sonic reigns supreme… will I ever really have peace, even with her?"_ he asked himself as he looked up to the sun for answers

They ran up the hill and came to a clearing and stopped near it when Amy stopped to look into the clearing. Sonic passed her originally, then turned around and jogged back to her to see why she stopped

"Hey Ames… why you stop?" he asked, looking around

"Because this is the clearing I saw some green-furred hedgehog" she said, looking around for a sign of her

"Oh… I probably bumped into her" Sonic said with a laugh

"Oh, and what, have sex with her! Geez Sonic, get any woman you want" she said angrily

"Whoa… whoa … whoa" Sonic said "Who said anything about sex? I just said I met her, she was the one who sent me from Metaltopolis to the jail" he said plainly

"Oh… oh sorry." Amy said half-heartedly

"Are you jealous of her?" Sonic asked innocently

"NO! Why would I be jealous of that whorish girl?" Amy said defensively "So what if she is young and attractive and …" she said, as she noticed Sonic laughing at her "Why are you laughing?" she asked

"Because this is hilarious" he said as he continued to laugh, despite Amy's glaring to make him stop. A few seconds passed and he collected himself "Amy… true she might be attractive or something… I wouldn't even know since she sealed me in a tube and beamed me to jail" he laughed

"So, maybe you like that" she replied with a giggle

"Then I would of married Eggman years ago" he laughed

"Ewww… that is so wrong on so many levels" Amy said bursting out into more laughter with Sonic

The two laughed together in a moment of absolute bliss and happiness that Sonic wished could last forever… but then he saw something behind Amy. In a tree nearby was a carving. It read

'Thoice + Sierra' and was encircled by a heart, although the carving looked incredibly dated as it was grown into the tree by age

"_Life isn't worth living with only yourself to wake up to"_ Sonic remember Thoice say in his dream, and at that exact moment he understood what he meant by that. The joy he had with Amy at this exact moment proved to him, more than anything else, the he wanted her in his life now and forever. He felt no other answer in the world made more sense than what he was about to do.

He cleverly dropped his ring into the grass, to which Amy stopped laughing as she noticed it. She went to get it for him but he insisted that he do so instead, so he got on one knee and looked around for it for a couple seconds. Then he looked up and took Amy's hand

"Amy Rose, will you do me the honor of being the girlfriend to the alleged 'Hero of Mobius', and help him crush a tyrannical metal duplicate of himself" he said with a grin

Amy's face blushed heavily and she giggled as she looked around to see if someone was watching, for some reason. She then burst out and said "I DO!" with a strong pull she then pulled Sonic up to her and the two kissed as they held each other together.

And in that exact moment they sealed their lips together, the bachelor in Sonic's soul died and was replaced by feelings of bliss and happiness. Truthfully, he'd never be able to explain these feelings to someone else, but he felt beyond amazing. "_Not even being Super Sonic feels as good as I do right now"_ he thought honestly as the two kissed under the shade of a tree that bore the names of two eternal lovers

* * *

><p><strong>Damn right i did that, i want the two to date now. I happen to of always loved the idea of Sonic and Amy being a couple... but damned if it didn't take forever to craft characters that would finally make sense for them to date. Also, being my own gift to myself, i want to see my favorite hero finally get the girl. <strong>

**As always, i appreciate getting a review of PM telling me how i did and where to improve... no the green-furred hedeghog won't be named yet... that is next chapter. And as much as i'd like to, i'm still working on the next part of 'Legacy' so ... sorry. no double post tonight.**

**HOWEVER, i am still seeking a beta reader for the following chapters to this series, and FEEL free to recommend yourself or another. I just want someone to help organize my 'maddness' as it were, and make it more engage-able to the reader. Much thanks if you could**

**LOVE,**

**Steven 'ZiGeNaToR' Ziegler**

**Who is now older**


	6. Green blur, speeds by

**Author's note:**

**Ok, i am so damn sorry this took so damn long. Generally i have good reason to be late in an update... but really... it was just ... i guess the term 'writer apathy' will have to work. I had the idea an all written down, but was too damn lazy to write. Go figure... as always, thanks to the fan's for 'checking' up with me and asking when the chapter was to come out. I have two thanks to give out**

**1) Thanks to DarkSideOfTheMoon19 for sending people my way in his story 'Rapture'. To return the favor, hit up the trilogy of his [ Messiah , Leviathan , and Rapture , respectfully]. They are actually wonderful reads, and i borrow some of his elements in the writing of 'Legacy'. To be honest, it was his stories that gave me the urge to write something dark myself (hence Legacy). So thanks man, your words of praise mean a lot to me. **

**2) Thanks to VGCats-Rocks for his O.C. that finally gets revealed in this chapter. Also, the kid found me on Facebook, cause i totally exist there guys. Feel free to hit me up there, if ya want. Oh, and VGCats-Rocks has background for his character in this (slowly updated) story The Remaining Blur: Episode Green**

**As always**

**-Enjoy**

* * *

><p><strong>Green Blur, Speeds by<strong>

"So Ames… didn't we have some sort of mission?" Sonic asked as the two cuddled under a tree together

"Whatever" she replied as she nuzzled him "It was… something…" she said lazily

"Good point" Sonic said with a laugh "That recon group will be here later, so I guess until then… we can … talk?" he said with a laugh

"Whatever, boyfriend" she replied with a giggle, as the new implications of such were still something she found immensely appealing

"Ha, don't make me regret that" he laughed as he looked down at the grass and saw his ring sparkle back at him off the sun's light "Oh yeah, probably should grab that ring before we lose it" he stated as he managed to escape Amy's extra-cuddly grasp

"Awww" she whined when he got away from her grasp "Come back" she said innocently with eyes that matched the tone

"Ha, just give me a sec dear" he replied with a grin as he grabbed the ring. As he bent back up to turn around and return to Amy's position under the tree, he caught a glimpse of something metal in the distance "Whoa Ames, I think we aren't alone anymore" he said as he placed the ring on his left hand and jumped back to her

"Oh?" she said quizzically as she looked down the trail to see whatever it was Sonic saw "Oh, that thing?" she asked, pointing at something metal in the distance

"Yeah, it could be the marching recon group or something" he said as he led her around the tree so that they could look at the 'invaders' without being seen back

"Ok… so I see a few of them… wish we had some binoculars" she said as she nuzzled Sonic's arm affectionately

Sonic laughed and pushed her away gently "Amy, now isn't the time" he whispered, looking back down the trail with focus in his eyes

She pouted but understood and got herself ready for what could very much be a battle

The figures marched down the trail, their metal footsteps echoing ahead of their position. They all appeared as bulky hedgehog-like robots, with a large black visor serving as the bulk of their head. In the visor were two yellow lights, which would turn and blink as they served the role of eyes. They stood approximately five feet tall, being a little bit taller than Sonic or Amy, and they were crafted to be much more pronounced in the terms of muscle

Their hands were the same as Sonic, that is to say they were with four fingers and a thumb apiece. Their legs were long and silver, matching the bulk of their body in color as they reflected in the sun's midday light. Despite the fact they looked like shiny and tall Metal Sonics, Sonic was convinced they were something much more than what met the eyes.

"Yo Ames, I'd be willing to bet that these are the troops we were destined to bump into" he whispered back to her

He heard a hammer materialize next to him as well as "Ok, I'm ready whenever you are"

The robots marched down the path in a nice single-file line, marching in some inaudible tempo as they kept perfect beat with their steps, further proving their mechanical nature. Soon they were just outside of the clearing where Sonic and Amy were waiting to ambush them at

"Ready?" Sonic asked, clenching his fist with the anticipation of a quick skirmish

He felt a double tap on his back, as Amy confirmed yes as she leapt up into the tree to prepare to drop down on the bots. He smiled happy that she knew exactly what he wanted her to do

The robots entered the clearing and time just seemed to slow to a crawl as Sonic took a deep breath and readied himself for combat. "_I just got a girlfriend like an hour ago, and now… now I get to be reminded that I'm fighting a war. Funny how this works"_ he thought as he broke a grin and looked at his advisories. Then, he dashed towards them ready to fight

They noticed him instantaneously and prepared to open fire upon him, the bullets tearing past him and missing him by mere inches as he had to madly jump and roll to avoid being hit. Realizing his strategy of taking them head on wasn't going to work, he ran to the other side of the clearing to put some distance between him and his attackers.

A hammer found its way from a nearby tree and crashed into the robot closest to the tree, dinging against his army and discombobulating him where he stood. But the robot merely shook the attack off and focused back upon firing where Sonic was.

"_Damn, not even Amy's hammers are breaking point"_ he thought as he started channeling his speed through his being and launching them off as pseudo-chaos spears. The blasts of wind crashed against the targets, forcing their arms to jitter around and their focus to be disabled temporarily, but as to harming them, the wind seemed to have no effect. "_Damn it! Not even my wind based attacks are working here"_ he thought with a snarl as he thought how else he could even begin to harm his enemies

Then Sonic heard the sound of what was similar to him when Tails would charge his wrist-blaster. A beam of energy came from the hillside and crashed into a robot, sending an electrical discharge throughout the mechanized man and causing him to just explode on the spot. The remaining five turned face to where the energy shot came from and prepared to engage whoever it was that interfered with their mission.

"_No idea who that was, but I'll be sure to thank them later"_ he grinned as he rushed towards the bots to engage them in close-quarters combat where he would be able to deal some damage. Amy seemed to have the same idea as she jumped from the tree, hammer in hand and the fiery passion of combat in her eyes.

The two hedgehogs made it to their mechanized compatriots and begun to engage them, just as they were turning back around to prepare themselves for the battle to unfold. Sonic leapt into the air and dove into the nearest one, shearing the robot with his quills at high speed, whereas Amy brought the full force of her hammer (mixed in with her speed) to tear right through a robot, knocking the midsection away and leaving a metal corpse to hit the ground.

Sonic's target detonated where it was, just as he kicked off to be thrown back up into the air to prepare his next target. As he spun in the air he watched Amy swing a full three-sixty swing as she swung low and clipped the legs of another bot, sending another victim down to the ground, where she would then swing overhead and crush the metal man under her relentless force. An explosion would follow the impact, as well as a spattering of oil all across the floor.

He looked up to the direction where the first energy beam came from to see another one heading towards the robots at high speed, crashing into the last robot and repeating the same effect the first one went through. "_My, whoever this is, they really know what they are doing"_ he thought as he did a few pointless flips in the air and landed next to Amy.

"Wow Sonic, until whoever that was interfered, I wasn't sure if we had that" Amy said as she dismissed her hammer and looked at the metal corpse pile

"I know, Metal Sonic really did build his army to work against me… and it seems even you." He laughed "I expected that hammer to smash them into bolts"

"So did I" she laughed "But whatever, I got my 'revenge' for them surviving the first one" she laughed as she grabbed Sonic hand affectionately.

"Want to find out who our mystery person was?" he asked politely, asking in the same way he would if he were asking her for a date

"I would be delighted babe" she replied with a giggle and the two quickly dashed off in the direction where the shots originally came from. Sonic caught a glimpse of something metal behind a thicket and led Amy to the bush with him. The two jumped the bush to see an abandoned gun lying there with no such person accompanying it.

The gun was much larger than most rifles, appearing to be something along the lines of sniper's rifle. It had a wonderfully crafted scope, and an electric tube fed to the muzzle. Some white chalk was against the gun, marking what Sonic counted as 'thirteen'.

"My…. That is odd" he said, as he looked around for signs of anyone who was there. He could hear some almost musical tones off in the nearby trees, fading quickly. "Wait a sec…" he begun to say as he dashed after the sound.

He leapt through the trees, dove past the bushes, ran through the water and sprinted through the fields after this almost musical sound. "_I have to be getting close to it"_ he thought as he kept chasing after whatever this sound was, he kept running faster trying to catch whatever was producing the sound, only to continue to chase it.

He reached the depths of the forest, after chasing this musical apparition for what seemed like ten minutes, but he knew it was probably more like two or three minutes of a high speed chase "_Something that only Shadow should be able to do"_ he thought in terms of keeping that much distance ahead of him. He entered the clearing to see a figure in a trench coat standing there almost as if they have been waiting

The stranger had some type of … eye-patch-like thing over their right eye, but it wasn't an eye-patch at all, more so some type of screen. And the music accompanied the device or at least it did until the music stopped and the stranger begun to talk, her green fur exposed from the trench coat's grasp.

"Hey Sonic" came the female's voice

"_Wait… a second"_ he thought as he remembered hearing the voice before, back in Metaltropolis… "Hey, didn't you send me to jail?" he asked, hiding his anger at the event

"Well yes… it was part of the plan pops" she said with the same sarcasm a teenager would have

"Whose plan!" he asked angrily, tired of never being informed. His ears perked up as he heard Amy catching up to him, her footsteps echoing in the quiet nature around them

"I'm sure you've met him by now, but he is the white ocelot" she replied with a giggle "And I had to lead you away from the robot's bodies as they would most likely still be transmitting back to Metal Sonic" she said casually as she interacted with her device

Amy now had caught up to Sonic, wielding the gun that was left behind. When she saw the stranger she acted as Amy would normally, by pulling the gun up and saying the following in a serious tone "Who are you and why was this yours?"

"Geez mom, calm down" the kid said with a laugh "I'm just a 'friend' sent to help remove some threats, as for the gun, I made it in my spare time. May I have it back?" she asked calmly

"I don't see why not, but I still have a question" Sonic interjected

"Ok, shoot" she said with some interest

"The white ocelot that sent you to help us, where is he now?" Sonic asked

"Heck if I know, he works in the most mysterious ways… "The kid replied with an honest voice "Although he did want me to say something along the lines of, 'Congratulations on following your heart', whatever that means" the kid said lazily

"_Wow… how informed is this guy?"_ Sonic thought as he realized Thoice had already figured out that he and Amy were dating "Well thanks for the message and Amy give her the gun" he said, gesturing to the girl

"No" Amy said as she placed the gun down "I know this kid; she brushed by me in the forest. I want to know why she is stalking me" Amy said simply

"Me? Stalk?" the girl laughed "No, I infiltrate and perform reconnaissance roles, I know that sounds like stalking… but I have no need to stalk two people I know so damn well" she said earnestly

"See and what is that even suppose to mean" Amy said her hammer materializing next to her

"You'll know when you are allowed to know, the ocelot never gave me the order to even talk with you yet, but I felt it was necessary" she said tactfully "But I guess it is fair enough for me to give my name back to you" she said as she took a sarcastic bow "I am Lightess the Hedgehog" she winked, as she pressed a button and her gun jumped back to her

As she caught the gun, she pressed some button and the gun quickly folded into itself a few times and attacked itself to her wrist as she got up from her bow. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm not suppose to interact with you until the up-and-coming fight, so until then" she said with a smirk and a thumbs up "Keep it up" and she turned and ran off at supersonic speed, leaving a green blur behind her.

"That brat!" Amy exclaimed readying her hammer and starting to chase after her, until Sonic put his arm out to stop her "What!" she exclaimed with passionate anger

"Calm down babe, that girl knew Thoice and was apparently sent by him" he said calmly, thinking everything over in his head "As far as I'm concerned, she isn't the enemy so let us head back to town and report our success" he said as he looked back at Amy

"Oh…. Alright!" she said angrily and dismissing her hammer in a flick of her hand "But if we see her again…" she muttered

"Oh Ames…" Sonic laughed as he pulled her close and kissed her "We'll be seeing her soon, she invited herself to the party"

"I guess so…" she replied, stealing another kiss "Let's head back" she said pushing away from Sonic and racing back to the city

"Hey, no fair!" Sonic cried out as he laughed and chased after her

The two laughed and ran back to town together, arriving at the main gate where they passed a quick scan by the town's guards. Thankfully Kane gave them badges that rendered the robot's scanners to go haywire and register them as normal citizens, rather than public enemies.

The two walked into town and headed to the inn to meet up with Kane and report on their success, the whole time Sonic and Amy bounced off ideas of who that mysterious girl could have been

"Look Ames, I don't care what you say, so what if she calls you mom. That doesn't mean Metal Sonic made a clone of you and that is your 'baby' or something" Sonic stated clearly as they walked "She is just being a teenager and calling you something that is, admittedly, funny" he said as she elbowed him in the side

"I still think that my theory makes sense, why else would he of scanned and kept me for so long?" she said

"For other reasons, he isn't going to make 'babies' of you to stop me" Sonic said with a chuckle "I think the girl is in with G.U.N." Sonic stated with explicit dislike of that organization

"That still seems extreme dear, she is far too young to be working with such an organization… but enough of that" she said as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek "we have a mission status to go report" and with that she skipped ahead of him and went into the inn towards the door where Kane was, leaving Sonic walking to the desk by himself

"_That girl is … something alright"_ he thought with a grin as he caught up with her and they walked through the transition room to meet with the large eagle again

"Jolly good, I was starting to worry if you two forgot to head back" the eagle jested with a laugh

"Naw, just slight … complications" Sonic said, thinking whether or not to bring up the girl "But rest assured, the whole convoy was smashed. Which is good, as they would have given us a hard time here in the city" he said with a light-hearted laugh

"Well sounds like Thoice was correct when he wrote that Metal Sonic had 'some help coming our way', I should really thank him, shouldn't I?" Kane asked

"Ok, enough of this stuff" Sonic said, placing his hands firmly down on the desk "Why is it Thoice is controlling everything me and Ames are doing!" he asked angrily

"Sonic, if I knew I would tell you" the eagle said calmly as he reached for a letter "You can read what he wrote, but as for why he does what he does, I can't say for sure. All I know is that he has the best for Mobius in mind" Kane said as he offered the letter to Sonic

He looked at the parchment in the eagle's hand and thought for a second "_Do I even want to know…"_ and he answered himself by taking the letter. He felt Amy look over his shoulder as he begun to read

'Dear Kane, I know this is relatively late in the delivery, and I should have reacted sooner… but better late than never. There is a squadron of mechanical technicians sent from Metal Sonic's very lab, to your precious city. They intend on weaponizing the city to purge it of the rebels (you and Sonic's friends, primarily). You can counter this assault by dropping an ambush on them (I'd recommend Sonic, since he seems most willing to do such a reckless mission (Be warned however, he will most likely wish to be accompanied by Miss Rose)). Whether or not you wish to plan a counter-assault is to your own degree, as I'm sending an operative myself to dispose of the problem. But this mission should, if Sonic accepts it, give him some ground on what kind of war we are fighting. The sooner he is ready to fight, the sooner we can begin to topple the infamous Ratchet Gearo that runs your city.

As always, The White Ocelot'

"Wow… I can't tell if I'm happy or angry by this" Sonic said as he handed the letter to Amy "He thinks I'm inept or something?" he asked the eagle

"I highly doubt it, in the other letter he had sent me, he informs me that you are the key to winning this war" Kane said plainly

""_You are the most important piece we have, don't you worry. I may topple, but the game plays on without kings"_ he remembered Thoice telling him in a dream "Well… despite my current anger towards him… I guess I trust him. For now" Sonic said as he walked towards the back of the room to think to himself

"Excellent, and it is wonderful you are back, I need to ask of one more quick mission of you and miss Rose" Kane said, preparing a document in front of him "There are some bodyguards of Gearo that NEED to be removed if we are to have a chance removing him from his throne" Kane begun to say

"So you want me and Sonic to crush some more metal?" Amy asked, her hammer materializing next to her

"Correct, and it would be for the best if all you had to do was fight these guards. Thankfully, such an opportunity has arisen" he said as he begun to read from the document, as if to remind himself of what the opportunity was

"Sonic, you ok for one more quick mission?" Amy whispered into his ear, as she hugged him from behind

"I…" he replied, still thinking for himself "I guess so… this city needs its freedom" he whispered back

"Ah yes, here it is" Kane said "His guards are being sent to a warehouse outside of town for some type of training exercise or another. Chances are it is a trap for us anyways, but I think we are willing to take those odds if it means weakening up Gearo" Kane said with a malicious grin

"So a suicide mission, just what I needed to clear my head" Sonic laughed with a certain giddiness for combat

"Right you are, and this is a doozy. From what recon tells me, there are four of these guards, and they are handcrafted, or so we are to believe, from Metal Sonic himself" Kane laughed "Destroying these will have a ripple effect throughout Metal Sonic's empire" he stated

"Got it, crush the robots and crush Metal Sonic's belief he is safe" Sonic grinned

"Right, and I need you and Amy at this warehouse in about ten minutes, to make sure the guards never return" Kane said as he pointed to a warehouse just outside of town on a map "After you crush these bots, I'm going to need you two to rush back to help us attack the citadel, else Gearo will be able to acquire reinforcements and defend against our clever assault" he said with urgency in his voice

"Really Kane, you are asking Sonic the Hedgehog if he could 'rush back' in time?" Amy laughed "I can assure you that we will be there before you even open his door"

"I sure hope so Miss Rose, otherwise the attack on Gearo will be left more so to chance than I would like" Kane said "Despite not having guards, he will still be a formidable opponent"

"Formidable is just a fancy way of saying they make funnier sounds when defeated" Sonic laughed "Come on Ames, we got a warehouse to check"

"Be careful you two, chances are they are ready for you" Kane warned

"Well, now we get to find out, don't we?" Sonic said with a grin "Or did Thoice tell you what was in the warehouse?" he mocked as they left the room

In the transitional room they waited for a second, just to clear their heads and talk over their apparent suicidal mission

"Sonic… what if Kane is right, and they are ready for us?" she asked, a tinge of worry in her voice

"Then we surprise them more so" Sonic grinned "Thoice wants me to fight, I'm not going to disappoint" he laughed

"Sonic… I'm starting to worry that you're getting a little… I dunno" she blushed

"A little what?" he asked back, trying to suppress his anger "A little angry from being jerked around by a guy I never see?" he asked

"Well… sorta" she replied nervously

"Well I kind of am" he replied, turning his back to her and resting his arm against the wall as he thought "For so long I've defended Mobius from a slew of attacks, and I have personally toppled Metal Sonic before. Now some guy sprouts up from nowhere and gives me orders and manipulates me and others to his will, like some puppet master!" he exclaimed

"He only wants to help, Sonic…" Amy replied with a light voice

"I…. I know" he sighed "But still, why can't he just show up in person and tell us what we need to know, instead of pulling the strings like some … jerk" he resigned to say

"It's ok Sonic" Amy said as she hugged him from behind "You will always have me to talk to, alright dear?" she whispered into his ear

"Thanks Ames" he replied as he turned around for a quick kiss "I guess… smashing some robots will brighten my day"

"Good, let's see if we can't improve your day" she said with a giggle as they opened the door and ran out into the town to head down towards the warehouse

The warehouse showed up over the horizon, and the two hedgehogs walked right up to the door and waited for a second, as to prepare themselves for combat

"You ready for whatever is in there Ames?" he asked

"As long as you are with me" she replied as the two shared a short kiss and opened the door.

The room was that of a typical warehouse, that is to say generally abandoned and empty. There were some pillars holding up the building around the room, a couple of miscellaneous piles of random stuff in the corners of the room and the only thing out of place was a desk in the middle of the room.

On the desk was but two things, a lamp and a letter. The lamp was overlooking the letter, basking the parchment in its glow. But the lamp wasn't plugged into any wall, and was just eerily casting its light despite this fact.

"So… do we walk over there?" Amy asked

"I guess so" Sonic said as he walked to the desk. He looked down and saw but one word on the letter

'Duck'

"Ames get down" Sonic cried out as he threw himself to the ground, Amy followed suit and the windows around the warehouse shattered. A barrage of bullets passed through the four walls, tearing the room into pieces, as Sonic and Amy lied on the ground just below the haze of bullets.

"_Damn, that would have been a terrible way to go"_ he thought as he held his ears shut for the noise was far too loud. He looked up at Amy who was doing the same, a look of severe annoyance on her face as she mouthed a sentence to him

"That was a close one" she mouthed to him

He nodded his head and gave her a thumbs up. He then tapped his wrist as to gesture time, and mouthed "Wait for them to stop", to which she nodded and they lay on the floor and waited for the volley of gunfire to subside.

A few more seconds passed and the gunfire stopped, giving an eerie atmosphere of silence in the room. The desk fell over, giving an echo in the room, and the lamp fell and hit the ground, but oddly enough didn't shatter. A few segments of the wall fell to the floor, and some creaky metal sounds found their way from the hinges of the doors that were riddled with bullet holes.

"Ok, ready?" Sonic whispered

"Whenever you are" she replied, summoning her hammer to her

He rolled up to his feet and leapt to the balcony of the warehouse, standing up on the support beams. Amy did the same, and the two waited up there for the attackers to entire the building.

"_Funny, why didn't we jump up here in the first place?"_ he thought as he looked around and saw the balcony was torn to shreds by gun fire, but was oddly intact enough to support their weight "_Oh, never mind"_ he thought with a grin

The main entrance door swung open and found robots walked in, all of them bearing the resemblance to massive robotic rhinos. Their arms were burly and thick, as if they possessed the muscle to lift a building. Atop their arms were giant barrels of what appeared to be some type of gun, what Sonic assumed was what they used to tear this warehouse to shreds.

Their bodies were encased in a thick-looking layer of armor, with spikes adorning certain spots on their body, for either an atheistic or practical purpose, Sonic wasn't certain. Their eyes were much like the scouts they took care of earlier, being that of a black-boarded visor with little yellow lights playing the role of eyes.

Sonic looked at Amy and gestured with his hand a countdown. His fingers went from '3' to '2' and finally '1'. After that he closed his fist and pointed at the targets, and she understood perfectly what he meant, as she threw her hammer down there, right at the rhinos. During the flight, Sonic quickly leapt in the air and begun his homing attack after the hammer, gaining massive speed towards the mechanized assailants.

The robots reacted far too late, as the hammer crashed into one of them and Sonic followed up into another one. He crashed straight into the robot, his spines tearing through the robot's armor, and then he uncurled and kicked off the robot to prepare another dive down at the robot. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Amy rushing towards him to help, and the remaining two robots that were unharmed in the assault, prepared to open fire on her.

"_I have to protect Amy!"_ he thought madly as he curled in the air and channeled his speed to produce a massive shockwave of wind down below him. The wind threw him away from the robots, but also threw the robots away from Amy and saved her from an assault.

Amy got to her destination, grabbed her hammer in mid leap and crashed her full force against one of the robotic rhinos. The force was so intense that electric energy discharged from the mechanized mammal and caused a massive explosion where he was, throwing Amy quite some distance away. She rebounded from the toss, and kicked off one of the support beams left standing in this warehouse, and prepared to rush back for another kill.

Sonic, on the other hand, prepared himself for a spin dash and launched right at the robot that was originally knocked down because of Amy's thrown hammer. He his target true, and kicked off the metal man to prepare for a quick assault, doing something that felt instinctual. He channeled his speed, as well as his energy into his hands and noticed they were covered with what seemed to be pure wind, cycling around his fists. He decided to test this power by punching the robot, and noticed the wind cushioned the punch for him, and tore through the robot at the same time, and knowing this he went into a combo-flurry of punches and kicks which resulted in hacking the robot into scrap metal.

As he continued to fight, he felt a massive drain in his energy, as if he was running at full-speed in some type of hamster wheel, and as a result he noticed himself getting slower. "_Must be this wind… glove… thing"_ he thought, as he dismissed the speed and felt an instant rush of relief. To compensate his now lacking attack power, he leapt into the air and rained a few carefully placed 'wind-spears' down upon the robots as he put some distance between him and the rhinos that could tear him in half.

During all this, Amy had engaged another rhino, but this one was ready for her. She swung in as the rhino put up his arm to cushion the blow. His arm took a massive dent, but he was still standing, and as a result he through his other arm down upon Amy, who rolled out of the way at the last second, dragging her hammer around to take another swing at the rhino. He would block again and the process again, sending echoes of energy throughout the warehouse with each collision

Sonic looked and saw that the rhino that Amy was fighting was the only one left and so he dashed to help her out, as he dove low and knocked the rhino off his feet. As the rhino started to fall, Amy brought the Piko-Piko hammer down upon the metal man's skull and resulted with a resounding thud as the hammer touched the pavement.

"Wow… that …. Was tiring" she said with a pant, her body scratched up with a couple of the punches that got past her.

"You're telling me" he replied with a deep heave. "Let's take a quick… breather" he said as he lay on the floor panting "And then catch up with Kane and the rebel movement"

"Ok…" she said as she nuzzled into his side "two minutes top" she said as she closed her eyes and relaxed with him on the floor of the shot-out warehouse

Sonic closed his eyes but a grinding sound of metal rubbing against metal woke him up and sent an unreal screech through his ears. He and Amy jumped up and got ready to fight, panting from the fight they just got out of. The pile of corpses lifted and started circling around each other, with some unnatural electrical current passing through them.

The metal quickly attached itself together and the resulting figure that emerged from the electrical storm of metal and energy was something that resembled a tall monkey. He was tall ape, with bursting muscles. His arms were very simian in appearance, except for the fact that a constant current of electricity passed through the very limbs. The hands, or should I say claws, were a very central conductor of the current, sparking with a menacing charge.

The tail was also a conductor, having a light bulb-like appearance to it as he swung it back and forth playfully. His shoulders housed large glass balls for what housed a current of electricity, and his legs looked ready to run for miles if need be

"Well great, now we have to fight super ape!" Sonic cried out in tired anger

"Well… at least it is somewhat original" Amy laughed with delusional hope

"Let's smash it quickly" he said "I need some rest if I am too topple Gearo" he said with a grin

"Oh oh oh!" the monkey said as it beat its chest with electrical sparks on each hit "No one gets to fight the master, no one" it mocked

"I wasn't asking monkey, now do me a favor and get into a barrel" Sonic said smugly

"Oh oh oh!" the monkey laughed "Hedgehog thinks he is funny, we see how funny he is when dead! Oh oh oh!" the monkey laughed as it stood menacingly and sent its electrical charges down its arm.

"_I have to be quick here, I don't have much energy to fight such a dangerous foe"_ he thought as he planned his method of assault, knowing since his enemy wasn't organic that he couldn't just tire it out.

Amy however wasn't in the mood to plan and summoned her hammer. She then rushed the ape and swung her hammer at the beast, resulting in a resounding thud as it crashed into the monkey's chest. The electricity then passed through the hammer and threw Amy across the room, with a trail of smoke behind her.

"AMY!" Sonic cried out as the monkey rushed at him, his claws ready to serrate flesh. Sonic saw this attack out of the corner of his eyes and begun madly dodging the apes attacks, trying his best to channel his energy into his hands again so that he could land a few careful punches. But whenever he tried to focus, the ape would swing another attack at him and force him to dodge for his life.

He heard the angry shouting of Amy from behind him as she rushed over to attack the monkey again, her hair smoking. The hammer crashed into the ape again, and she let go after that point and jumped back.

The monkey was caught off-guard and looked at her, giving Sonic the time to channel the essence of the wind around his fists, to where he begun to punch at the ape, tearing away at the money's metal 'flesh'. The electricity retaliated against Sonic, being put into the wind around his fists, which only worried him as time went on and the current got thicker. "_Once I dismiss the wind, will I get shocked?"_ became his only concern as he continued to punch away at the ape, dodging the monkey's counter-attacks and tricky tail.

A few times the tail made contact with him, sending an unnaturally painful charge through him and would almost cause him to fall to his knees if he wasn't so hell-bent on destroying the monkey for hurting Amy.

As he tore through the monkey, he felt his meager reservoir of strength dissipate at a rapid pace, leaving him with just enough energy to swing his fists. The motion soon became the rhythm, giving him something that helped him to stay awake as his vision begun to blur.

He saw Amy rushing into the monkey with her hammer; crashing her force against it and then jumping back to avoid the discharge. He saw his fists hit the monkey, and kept his breathing in pace with his fists. But the strength finally failed him and he leapt back and released the wind around his fists

The electricity surged through him and went away from him in every direction, but not before first passing through him in every direction. The pain was unreal and he wanted to scream in pain but found himself too tired to even do that. His vision blackout out and the black he was watching was backlit with splashes of electrical white and yellow.

He felt himself fall backwards on the warehouse floor, the sound of the monkey laughing… and then… nothing

* * *

><p><strong>Well, not to be a dick, but that is just how this chapter ends. I know, i hate cliffhangers as much as the next guy... but ... bare with it? Please? As always, ratings, reviews or just straight up PM's are a wonderful way to let me know how i'm doing. Don't hate the following news, ok?<strong>

**I'm slowing down on the update cycle. I found a Beta-Reader for the up-and-coming chapters, so the updates will be a little slower... expect somewhere around once a week. I know, and i'm sorry. But i have school wrapping up and then summer vacation trips and such... oh, and i'm getting a job... so there's that too. As always, i'll try to keep some level of connection with you guys, since you are WONDERFUL fans, but as for story updates... sorryz**

**OH! Almost forgot to mention, still (as always) accepting O.C.'s for writing in general. If you want to be in 'The Mobian Adventures' cycle, let me know explicitly... else i can add you in an up-and-coming work i have that will be O.C. driven (Think Legacy, but not my exclusive cast). Still deciding if it'll just be a 'fanservice lemon' or what, but i want to give something back to the community. I'll be posting the whole ... detail ... thing on my profile, and later my Forum (where it'll be in more detail). It is just my way of saying thanks for carrying this story as far as it is, and ... now kind of an apology for being terrible at updates.**

***Edit* One last thing, too all the people who have begging me to borrow Thoice and such for their own stories... meh. I dunno if he is ready yet... i'd kind of like to finish 'Mobian Legacy' before he hits the big world, but ask me extra nice and go for it. IF YOU STEAL HIM, well... then shame on you. But really, i don't care. I would just like to know where he gets off to next... so keep me in the loop.**

**Much Love,**

**Steven 'ZiGeNaToR' Ziegler**


	7. Recoil and Rebellion

**Author's note:**

**Hey guys, damn that took sometime. I really don't deserve the fans i got, at times. I hope this chapter is awesome for you, as it took me forever to get around to finishing it. I'll say more after the story, so...**

**-Enjoy**

* * *

><p><strong>Recoil and Rebellion<strong>

"Good, now can you hand me that vial Lightess?" a familiar voice said as Sonic's eyes begun to open.

He awoke laid out on the warehouse floor, a warm sensation could be felt on his chest and a metal taste was in his mouth. He looked to the side and saw the wreckage of the electric monkey they had fought, with Amy next to its corpse smashing the remains with her hammer, with recognizable anger.

"_Haha… shock the monkey…."_ He thought lazily as he looked up to see a white ocelot working over him, blood drenched his paws. Then the fist pang of worry was sent through him as he looked down at the warmth on his chest, too see… inside him.

"Damn, Lightess can you assist in the anesthesia?" Thoice asked, looking through the pile of vials lined against Sonic.

"What… is…" Sonic begun to ask as Lightess shot a dart into his neck. The morphine worked instantly and he felt his eyes get heavy and he fell to the ground.

***drug-induced dream sequence* **

Sonic was walking down Emerald Coast, enjoying the beauty of the sea side, with none of the sea interacting with him. To his left was Thoice, walking alongside of him. As last time, he was fancily dressed, wearing a nice black shirt and immaculate pants of royalty. If Sonic didn't know better, he'd say Thoice was a prince of some kingdom or perhaps a king.

"What's with the getup this time?" Sonic asked with a grin, already knowing they were in a dream or something along those lines

"Oh nothing, a man can't dress formal without being questioned now?" he asked with a playful laugh. He flicked his wrist and a small cigarette found its way out of his sleeve and into his hand, in a swift motion the fag was lit and placed in his mouth lazily as he continued to say "This is Mobius, the world we wish to die fighting for. Right?"

"Uhm…" Sonic said, watching a puff of smoke leave Thoice's mouth and a weak cough following "Seems you don't know how to smoke right." Sonic laughed and then said "But yeah, this is Mobius and I'll fight for her freedom to my dying day" with a look of determination at Thoice, wondering why he would mention such

"Good… good" the ocelot said lazily, his mind being elsewhere "I once had reasons to fight for this land… reasons of love and passion" he said, looking out to sea and stopping their walk. "But… now I'm just sick of living Sonic… oh so sick of it" with an accompanying puff of smoke and cough

"Is this why you smoke now?" Sonic asked, not sure what else to say

"No…. this is for health reasons all together." He said deceptively "But no, Mobius is a world of beauty and purity that I wish to save for future generations to enjoy, as I've had my fill… and I will do anything I can. But I need you to trust me Sonic"

"Oh?" Sonic asked, slightly put off by Thoice's knowledge that he was starting to become skeptical of the ocelot's motives "How do you plan to save this world?" he asked

"Sonic… do you really want to know" he asked, a sad look in his eyes

"_Is that a test?"_ the hedgehog thought, contemplating the idea for a second "Yes… yes I would" he said, placing his foot down

"Well… remember…. You asked for it" Thoice said with a tear "Mobius is in for a war of imaginable horror. Metal Sonic will descend upon the land of the living and cause rank chaos. Mortals will die in grand numbers, their corpses to feed his machines and their blood to quench his undying thirst for a mechanized age. You will infiltrate his base in the end, with but two allies. The three of you will be forced to fight Metal Sonic and his contraptions to attempt to save Mobius, but parts of yourself will die" the ocelot said, taking a quick smoke

"_So… this isn't just a playful 'world domination' thing… this …. This is war"_ Sonic thought, feeling sick

"To top everything off, you will lose someone near you and it will be more devastating that you can dare to imagine" he said, in a I'd-know kind of way

"Right… like you and your girlfriend from ages ago" Sonic said… thinking about what Thoice had just told him

"I had a girlfriend? Odd… you think I'd remember something like that" the ocelot said lazily "But irrelevant, I hope you and your kin save Mobius on that front…. I am forced to fight another war set up by a crueler enemy than Metal Sonic, as much as you'd wish that not to be true. But rest assured Sonic, I will send my help whenever I can… the scroll I'll leave you when you wake up will allow you to contact me ONCE, so please be careful with it" he said, throwing the cigarette down to the ground and having the shadows jump up and eat the remains

"What was that?" Sonic asked, trying to change topic to something more peaceful

"Wake up Sonic" Thoice said, albeit not in his voice. It sounded like Amy's…

***End sequence***

Sonic's eyes fluttered awake, and he saw a green hedgehog leaning against the wall, her eyes distracted by the screen that so frequently took position in front of her. Amy was done smashing the monkey, as she was besides Sonic, helping him to lean up.

"Where…" Sonic begun, a cough following the first word of his sentence "Did... Thoice get off to?" he asked

"He left awhile ago, he wanted you to have this however" Amy said cautiously, as she handed Sonic an immaculate scroll, almost rolled to perfection. "He said you'd know what to do with it" she said distraught

"Oh…" he said, now realizing the conversation they just had was more than just a dream "Uhm… yes I know." He said as he pocketed the parchment. "Hey Lightess" Sonic called out to her

She looked up from her device, and the screen panned off her face giving Sonic an unobstructed look at her once again, her off-color eyes sending an odd shiver down his spine

"Yes Sonic, what is it?" she asked with a bored droll in her voice

"What happened when I went unconscious and why didn't you show up sooner?" he asked, trying to see just how much out of the loop he was

"Well, after you went down from like a gajillion volts, Amy went berserk and tried to kill Sparky over there" she laughed, gesturing to the mechanical mosh pit of scrap and bolts "And that didn't pan out to well, but thankfully I was sent to watch the fight by Thoice" she then went on to say

"So Thoice is pulling the strings, eh?" Sonic said with a flush of anger in his voice, hating how the ocelot always seemed to be a couple steps ahead

"Correct, and I leapt at the chance to help him out" she said, trying her best to suppress a blush as she looked away from Sonic "And so I waited out in the forest, in a tree to be exact, for our friend there to lower his guard. Once I had an established shot, it was a matter of one shrapnel round that tore through his electro-flux capacitor and caused him to go boom" she said with a grin

"_Odd, why would she even like Thoice? Whatever, at least she is on our side"_ Sonic thought

"And that is exactly why I love having you around!" Amy said with a cheer "Now, are you going to help us liberate this city?" she asked

"I have been ordered to assist you on such, yes." Lightess said tactfully "But there is more than that…" she said, kicking the ground as she seemed nervous about what she wanted to say next

"Oh? Well… you can tell us, heck we are like family" Sonic laughed, causing his chest to hurt

Lightess blushed when Sonic said that, and looked away quickly as she said "Well Thoice thought it would be in my best interest to … well … sorta… kinda" she said, twirling her hair now, as a nervous habit "Join you on your adventure…" she said

Sonic looked at Amy, and she back at him. The two exchanged meaningful glares, and Amy nodded her head and Sonic smirked as she answered his question with a simple gesture

"Lightess, we would be delighted if you'd join us in toppling Metal's Empire" Sonic said, giving her his classic 'thumbs up' gesture

The girl's eyes beamed with joy, almost like it was Christmas for her, and she leapt with joy as she skipped over to them with glee "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" she repeatedly madly as she hugged Amy relentlessly, as Sonic was still sitting on the floor, nursing his sewn-up chest.

"_With her being so close, we should win more fights now… and I might be able to figure out this whole 'Thoice' thing, since she seems to like him so much"_ Sonic thought, as he grinned and tried to take in the happiness of the room. He then would try to stand up, his chest exploding in pain as he fell back down. The girls reacted with a pang of worry; Amy's much higher than Lightess's.

"Sonic! Don't try to get up right now, your wound is still healing" Amy chastised

"What wound?" Sonic asked, not used to not having rings on him.

"Well… you took a lot of electricity, there pops" Lightess said lazily, as though it was matter-of-fact "And as such, your organs got wasted. Thoice took some of his crazy alchemy gibberish and made you better, or at least he said so" she said, looking back to her screen

"_Well, I need to be in an uprising right now"_ Sonic thought as he forced himself to stand up. He channeled the very speed he had learned over his years of running, and coursed the free-will energy through him. His chest quickly begun to sew itself together, the pain subsided and a rush of relaxation found its way over him. He sighed in relief and took a sec to stretch and enjoy his rested body

"Whoa man, how long you been able to do that?" Lightess asked with wide eyes

"For a little while now, I gotta say it helps out like no one else's business… albeit, I usually am tired afterwards…" he said as he thought about it

"Chances are that Thoice placed something in you that would work off of that ability so you wouldn't incur a negative" she said with a grin "At any rate, you should be good for a good 'ol fight now" she laughed

"You betcha, we are freeing Coretin from this psychotic ruler" he grinned

"Careful Sonic" Amy chimed in, walking over to him and looking sad "I don't want you to get hurt like that again" she said with tears forming in her eyes

"_Man, I can't bear to see her so sad"_ he thought as he placed his finger under her chin and helped her look up at him "Ames that was a one-time fluke. It'll never happen again, k?" he reassured her

"I don't believe you" she said "But just try to take things a little safer now" she said, as he kissed his answer back to her lips. She smiled and the three begun to ready themselves for their jog from the warehouse back into the city.

As they got ready to leave, Sonic noticed the knocked over table with the letter on the floor and the perfectly intact lamp. "Hey… Lightess. I assume you wrote that letter… but what is the deal with the lamp?" he asked

"What? I never left a note Sonic" she said, walking over too take a look at it. As he scanner device worked itself over the paper, a light illuminating and bathing the parchment in an eerie glow as the sound of software running was slightly heard in the empty room. "Ok, so it was left by Thoice, and down at the bottom in 'invisible ink'… which is really a misdemeanor…." She said, thinking of something else for a second

"Lightess, what was it our ocelot friend left at the bottom?" Amy asked, curious herself

"Oh right, it says 'May your path be illuminated like this lamp. Forged to never break, designed to always light the way. One can hope your future can learn from something so simple'… odd, seems far to…" she said, thinking of something while she blushed

"Whatever, he is trying to instill another flipp'n lesson in my day" Sonic said with a twinge of anger "Still… and indestructible lamp… is something alright. Ames grab that, I'm going to go check town" he said as he begun a slight jog towards town to see what was going on.

Smoke billowed over the city, basking the evening sunlight in a glow as through it were a painting of something horrid. Loud screams and the sound of gunfire could be heard as it echoed over the city. Sonic clenched his fist in anger, just to have Amy wrap her hand over his fist to calm him Lightess was to his left, keeping an open view of the area, her gun armed and ready whereas Amy just had her hammer in hand. Sonic was startled for second that they managed to catch up to him, but then he remembered they were speedy as well.

They rushed back into the city, to see fire spewing from the building and people screaming as the sound of metal on metal echoed throughout the city with the anguished screams of perishing people's lives. As much as Sonic wished he could go Super Sonic and end their suffering, he knew such a move was impossible.

"Damn it, we have to get there faster!" Sonic said with anger, hating the sound of people in pain as he sprinted into town, leaving a blue blur behind him as he found himself in the core of the city.

A group of mechanized soldiers had the resistance group pinned down behind a blown-out car, but that didn't deter the resistance. They continued to fire their guns, ineffectually bouncing off the soldiers. Sonic saw this moment as opportune and leapt into the fray, spinning off of one troop and chaining his attacks of each and every one of them. Their metal bodies littered the ground, as the resistance cheered him for his assistance.

Then the melee troops found him out, and rushed him with their bear-like arms and their panther-like claws. Sonic weaved and dodged their attacks, and attacked back whenever he had an opening. One by one, the troops fell before him and he hadn't even broken a sweat yet. He laughed with a delirious feeling as he felt the surge of saving the city rush through him, as the last troop fell to a simple axe-kick.

"Wow, thanks a billion Sonic!" one of the resistance fighters said, as the company of them cheered

"It was nothing, now someone tell me where Kane is?" Sonic asked, remembering his plan

"Oh, up by city hall, be careful though, the elite troops are there" a troop replied

"Thanks a ton" Sonic said as he rushed off to the direction the troop pointed to him

As he rushed through the town, he saw more of the wreckage of war and the strewn bodies of mechanized and organic beings alike, and the reality that he couldn't save everyone hit.

"_Wow… Thoice was right. A part of me will die…"_ he thought as he got sick by the mere thoughts of what was around him "_But… they are sacrificing themselves to make Mobius a better place to live, right?"_ he asked himself, keeping his eyes open for pink or green blurs.

As he ran up to the main district, he saw a green blur off in the distance, and robots nearby exploding with gratuitous amounts of shrapnel flying off in random directions as the bullets impacted and destroyed their targets. Around where Lightess was shooting, Sonic could see that she was going to get flanked by a small force of robots, but before he could even think to react he saw the pink blur leap down from a nearby building and shattered the invaders.

"_At least Ames and Lightess can watch over each other's back"_ he thought as he took a moment to sigh in peace, having not have to rush over and watch everyone he would have on this adventure. "_Crap! Where is Jacob and such?"_ he thought looking through the crowd

He quickly viewed the battlefield by jumping up on a nearby street lamp, which happened to be intact. Over the crowd of robots and corpses, he saw no such creature that resembled Jacob or even Nagator… "Heck, I can't even see Alex" he said sadly, bummed by the inability to find his friends. His resolve strengthening once more as he hoped down from the lamp post and dashed past the score of metal men ahead of him tearing them apart with his wind-charged hands.

He rushed to the main entrance of the compound and kicked the door down as he walked into a beautiful foyer. The room was… "Wow… this is beyond amazing. I mean…. Look at it!" Sonic said as his eyes panned over the room.

Rich white coated furniture coated the room, immaculate rugs donned the floor and the most beautiful portraits were hung with care on the wall. A lovely fire was lit in the fireplace and a tray of wine was distributed upon the nearby tray-table. Despite all the war going on outside this room, you wouldn't be able to tell unless you knew otherwise.

"This … Ratchet Gearo fellow is a monster" Sonic cursed under his breath, hating how this man was able to live in such luxury while the city struggled to survive. Worse than that, people were dying on his front step and he had the audacity to make his entrance so arrogant. Sonic clenched his fist and started up the nearby staircase to see if he couldn't find his 'host' for a face-to-face meeting.

Upon reaching the second floor, a beautiful hallway laid out before him. Portraits hung along the wall, end tables found home with flower vases and doilies and a magnificent run rolled across the floor for what seemed like miles. At the far end of the hallway were two very large steel doors. "Guess I found the party room" he grinned as he begun to walk down the hallway to meet with this elusive character.

As he started to walk, he heard glass break in a room to his left. He jumped back just in time to dodge an electrical bolt that struck past him. Bursting from the room was a hedgehog with electric yellow strikes across his body. "Nagator! Man am I glad to see you!" Sonic said with a sigh, lowering his guard to his friend

"Oh heya Sonic" Nagator replied distractedly "Sorry 'bout that, have you seen Alex?"

"Uh… I was going to ask you the same thing…" Sonic replied with a kick to the floor

"Damn, I lost him in the battle!" the hedgehog cursed, kicking over a nearby end table and watching a vase crash against the ground "Damn…. This corrupt bastard has the 'fancy-man taste, eh?" he said angrily

"Seems so, you want to help me redecorate?" Sonic asked with a grin

"I'd love to" he replied with a malevolent grin. Sonic and Nagator made quick work of the hallway, shattering all the paintings and vases they could find, as if the act of destroying this room would get them ready to fight the man behind the iron doors. A couple minutes passed and the room looked remotely as if a hurricane had visited, with scarred and burnt walls and shattered property

"There, now let us go pay our respects to our wonderful host" Sonic laughed

The two begun to walk down the hallway, anxiously looking through each door they passed, expecting some type of resistance fighter to leap out and defend their master. After they fourth set of doors, they begun to become increasingly nervous and started to jump at the smallest of sounds

"Damn Sonic… this is so… unnatural" Nagator said in a hushed voice, electricity crackling from his clenched fists

"Just a little more" Sonic replied, looking at the next five passing's. A loud shatter happened in the next room to the right, and Sonic rolled past the door and took a peek in from the other side as Nagator took up his opposite flank. The two glanced in to see a green hedgehog on top of a shadowy blur under the moon's glow.

"Ugh! Lightess, get off of me" mumbled a feminine voice

"Sorry!" Lightess said as she stood up and offered her hand to the stranger. As she pulled up the figure, the light revealed pink fur.

"Ames!" Sonic said with a relieved sigh

"Oh Sonic!" she replied, rushing over to give him a hug and exchange a kiss with him "I'm so glad I found you! We lost you in the commotion of the warzone out there" she said quickly

"Yeah… pretty messy out there… hopefully we can wrap this revolution up quickly" Lightess said, removing a scope from her gun and placing a silencer over the barrel.

"Whoa… whose the chick?" Nagator said, a slight laugh under his voice

"A friend of ours" Sonic said back "And I think an invaluable ally for our mission. Lightess, this is Nagator" Sonic said, introducing the two

"Pleasure" Lightess said distractedly as she mindlessly worked on her gun

"Take it that is your style of fighting… let me know how that works out" Nagator laughed

"You'll see" she said coyly

"Enough banter already, we have to make our move now" Sonic said, grabbing the girls' hands and leading them out of the room. As the four walked down the corridor Sonic continued to say "Well, we suspect those doors are hiding the general of this district. However… we can't find Alex or Jacob…. Heck, even Kane is missing" Sonic said

"If you are worried about betrayal, relax. If Kane wanted to betray you, he long since missed his opportunity" Lightess replied

"I'm just worried about those three" Sonic replied "Especially the kid"

"That 'kid' is tougher than you give him credit for" Nagator said

"I hope so" Sonic grimaced as they came face-to-face with the massive door.

Sonic reached out and touched the cool steel bars that acted as door handles, and tried to pull the door open. The door gave not an inch, and Sonic sighed. He tried to then push, and the door freely gave way. "Gee… why is this so easy?" he asked

"Don't ask me, makes our job easier" Nagator said with a grin

The three entered the room to see yet another fancy room. The opposite side of the room had a matching pair of doors, identical to what Sonic had just opened. The walls of the circular room were adorned with books of all sizes and colors, on elegant shelves of the most beautiful wood. A nice red leather chair sat in front of a fire with a top hat appearing from the position. Asides from this apparent person on a chair, the room looked safe enough

"Excuse me, are you by chance Ratchet Gearo?" Lightess asked, aiming her gun right down to take this character out with one shot

"Who? Me?" came a cool darkened voice "I'm 'fraid not" was the simple reply as a puff of smoke rose above the figure with an accompanying exhale.

A large demonic-like scythe lay up against the chair, acting almost as a lamp would … well, except for the light. The image of the scythe was moderately terrifying however, sending unnatural shivers down Sonic's spine as it seemed to be crafted out of a nightmare.

"If you don't mind us asking, who are you?" Sonic asked, trying to keep his voice cool and collective

"I do" came the reply calmly

"I do? What kind of name is that?" Amy asked with confusion

"No you simple girl, 'I do' mind" came the reply. The man knocked his hat off and stood up to look at the visitors. The appearance of this man was what gave Sonic an unnatural shock, almost as if he were in a nightmare.

The man… or… demon-man's appearance was that out of science fiction. He had paper white skin, almost like Thoice and a similar frame. That was where the similarities ended, however. He wore a black trench coat with white swirls all over it, like small clouds and a white shirt under that coat. His feet were adorned with gothic-style boots. And a brown waist coat could be seen under the trench coat, as shadow-black pants covered over his legs. But the most un-nerving aspects weren't his clothes, but his physical being.

His white skin had almost black-tentacle-like veins over them; his eyes were blood-red with graying exteriors. His light grey fur only seemed to accent this man's audacious aura, giving him a vibe that made if feel like death was looming over Sonic. The man had a slightly unkempt beard on his face, resulting in mainly stubble and his quills were quite short for a hedgehog.

"What are you?" Sonic asked, feeling his wind powers start to get worked up

"… Good question Sonic…. Good question" he replied smugly "Typically I'm a 'friend' to people like you, and offer my help. I happened to be in the neighborhood and heard from certain person who has hacked up a hairball of curiosity to me, that there might be some sort of rebellion tonight. I wanted to meet these 'noble' heroes before they become tainted with the blood of war" the man said with a slight chuckle as he released another exhale of smoke from the now apparent cigarette in his hand

"Seems convenient… why shouldn't we fight you then?" Nagator said with anger, energy crackling off of him

"For starters, you won't be able to save this city if you are dead" the man said coolly "You mistake me, I'm not here to fight…. At least not yet. I only wanted to observe this while I go make a quick 'withdrawal' from this mansions vault. Ya see, a certain artifact of sorts happens to be here, and I want it back" he said calmly as he grabbed his scythe

"Oh… fine. Pleasure meeting you… I guess?" Sonic said, happy to lose this man's presence

"Lying will get you nowhere Mr. Hedgehog. Prepare yourself, for the next time we meet, it might not be so … polite" the man said as he erupted into a pillar of shadow and vanished from the room.

"Ok…. The hell was that" Lightess said, pulling her gun down

"No idea… glad it's over though" Sonic said with a sigh "_I've never been so scared in my life… the heck was that guy"_ Sonic thought with a feeling of dread through his body

"Well… regardless of what happened just now, we have a mission to carry out." Amy said, walking over to the opposite doors and swinging them open to reveal another large hallway.

"Holy Omochao, how large is this damn place" Sonic cursed as the four began their walk to the ornate golden door at the end of the path.

"So… are we all ready to fight whatever is behind those doors?" Lightess asked

"I'm ready to disembowel whatever it was, thanks to that freaky man's presence. Now all I can think about is death and destruction… and … like the urge to kill" Nagator said nervously

"Yeah…." Sonic said, realizing that Nagator's thoughts were the same as his own "I know that feelings…" he said nervously, as such bloodlust was new to him

"Regardless of what that man was or did, Ratchet needs to be eliminated, Kane said so" Amy said with conviction in her voice

"Never said he didn't… but…" Sonic said, trying to find another way around this

The four reached the door to find a small letter on the ornate gold frame. Sonic grabbed the letter and read the content. A small line of text was written in the middle of the note, being only a few words long, but the message unnerved them all.

'How does it feel to lust for a little chaos, Team Sonic?'

"_Wow… that isn't disturbing or anything…"_ Sonic thought, looking over the writing to see it was incredibly different from Thoice's. "Ok guys…. That was probably Ratchet trying to spook us or something… heck, that man from early was probably one of his goons that decided to bail…" Sonic said, trying to raise moral

"Sonic… I don't know about you…. But I think that man could have killed us if he wanted to…." Amy said tearfully

"But he didn't Ames" Sonic replied "And now we get to save a city" he said reassuringly as he pushed the doors opened.

The room was rather bare, with only stone walls and a large sandy circle with a man standing there looking back at them. And by man, we meant to say robotic man. The appearance of this person was of that of a steam-powered person, with pistons off his body and unnatural eyes looking back at the intruders. A monocle covered one eye and a top hat over the head. The man was dressed in the fanciest clothes Sonic had seen in quite some time, matching that of the president…. Yet somehow palling in comparison to Thoice's newer garments in his dreams.

The man had a cane in his left hand, and a cup of what Sonic assumed was tea in his other. The man brought the cup up to his lips, took a sip and threw the cup behind his shoulders to hear a wonderful shattering sound.

"My, my, my. So this is the little invasion force sent to stop me is it? My how rude of you, wrecking my house with your irresponsible behavior" the man criticized "All well, Ratchet M. Gearo at your service, how may I assist you?" the man asked, feigning a bow to the four hedgehogs.

"So, you are the infamous Ratchet Gearo, eh?" Sonic said smugly, taking a casual glance around the apparently empty room "Sorry to come to this, but we are here to remove you from office"

"Understandable, as always. My lord and master gave me heads up that this was to happen, but don't expect me to make this easy on you, Mr. Needlemouse" the mechanized man said with a sadistic grin.

As if the malice in his face was a trigger, his body begun to have a chain reaction. His limbs grew three-fold in girth, his wrists revealed concealed weaponry and his torso thickened and seemed to be charged from some malicious power. Electrical energy cackled from him, as well as steam bellowed from him and the sound of metal scrapping against metal echoed the room. By the end of the transformation, the small statuesque man before them had turned into a massive steam golem, able to pick any of the hedgehogs before him with a mere hand and crush them like grapes, if he would so desire.

"Damn, it is always a giant monster!" Sonic cursed with an ironic grin, as he had a long love of wrecking large and intimidating enemies

"Now let us decide who is proper to rule over sector one of the magnificent Metal Empire" the golem bellowed as steam discharged from his back and his chest opened up to reveal a salvo of missiles. The projectiles flew from him right to the score of hedgehogs before him, with the intent to end the fight in one swift move.

"Damn Sonic, how do we fight this?" Lightess asked, looking down her sights to pick a spot to shoot

"Just have fun" Sonic replied with a light laugh as he rushed his opponent. He charged the wind-like powers through his hands, feeling the steady drain on his stamina as he did so. He crashed into the large steam-golem at top speed, a strong punch leaving a massive tear through the frame of the golem, and causing a pillar of smoke to rise out of the wound.

"ARGH!" the golem cried out, as he fired his missile volley to discourage another attack as such, but far too late, as Lightess had a spot to shoot now. As the golem released his volley, so did Lightess into the gaping hole. Satisfying sounds of breaking gears and cogs could be heard echoing throughout the room, past the explosions of the golem's missiles.

"DODGE!" Amy cried out, as she tackled Lightess away from the volley of explosive shells. Nagator leapt into the air, his aerial position allowing the salvo to totally miss him, and Sonic was busy dancing around the legs of the golem to be bothered by such a light incident.

"Thanks a ton Ames" Lightess said, slapping a new clip into her gun and taking aim at her target once more, her screen going back over her right eye to give her full battlefield information. As this happened, Amy rushed in to help Sonic beat the golem down.

Nagator charged up his electrical power in the air, energy freely cackling off of him and filling the air around him. The energy then condensed around him and he channeled it through his arms and a large stream of pure energy struck from him and tore through the golem. He then screamed in pain as he fell to the ground uselessly. Sonic, noticing this, dove to quickly save Nagator from the fall as the golem had yet another massive hole torn through his armor.

"Blast! My precious battle armor!" the golem roared in anger "No matter, let us make this interesting" he chuckled as the room lost all of its light. As soon as the room went dark, Lightess's computer device thing begun to shine a stream of light ahead of her, exposing the golem once more. He cackled and the room shook violently as he pressed some button on his wrist.

Lightess's light flickered out, and the combined screams of Amy, Nagator and Lightess could be heard as the lights flickered on and off. The three hedgehogs were locked in gallows, and an ever slowing chainsaw-like blade descended down upon their heads.

"Sonic" the golem wheezed, smoke bellowing from his gaping holes and oil dripping from a plethora of areas "my master told me I would lose this fight, and I prepared for all plausible scenarios for you and your girlfriend" the golem wheezed again "However, four against one… you got me there"

"Free them right now" Sonic cursed, charging up his energy once more to fight the golem

"They will be free once you kill me. I am preying on your inability to commit murder…" the golem wheezed another pillar of smoke "Let us see what happens next, as I can barely defend myself…" he grinned with his evil appearance "But whatever you decide, you best rush"

"_Can I do it? Can I kill someone, even if not doing so means the death of people I either love of care for?" _Sonic thought as his mind raced to figure if there was another way around this. Their gallows seemed far too well built, as well as behind large domes of what appeared to be incredibly resilient material. "_Damn… Thoice was right… a part of me dies today"_ Sonic resigned to think again as his legs begun to channel the energy of the free wind.

He curled up and launched himself at the golem, tearing through him time and time again, oil and steam billowing from his wounds as he screamed in pain and finally keeled over. As soon as his head rolled off his unstable torso, the domes lifted up from his friends and the gallows fell apart, freeing Amy and so forth.

"_Thank the world he wasn't lying about that"_ Sonic thought for a second in reverence "Ames! You alright?" he asked as he dashed over to help her up

"Yeah, I'm alright" she replied, knocking some dust off her clothes "I have no idea how he managed to grab us like that so quickly though…" she said

"I don't know… I think he had that planned from before the fight was ready… but I don't think he was ready for four of us" Lightess said

"Perhaps he was, as he seemed keen on forcing me to make a decision…." Sonic said morbidly

"Glad ya picked the one ya did, mate" Nagator said with a sigh "Thought I was going to be mincemeat before getting a chance to kick the metal little tyke around"

"I couldn't let you people die…. But now I have blood on my hands" Sonic said, looking at his white gloves and able to see the very resentment of what he did echo off of them

"It's alright babe, you did what needed to be done. Metal Sonic wanted to torture you emotions first, and you can't let him win that" Amy said, holding his hands and looking into his eyes with a deep and profound caring gaze

"Thanks Ames" he said quietly as he looked around the room to distract his thoughts from what just happened

"Well Sonic, I have to go report to Kane, who most likely is out fighting still… So I'll meet you back at the inn in about an hour" Lightess said, dashing at supersonic speed down the hallway they came from, leaving a green blur behind her

"Odd girl" Amy said as she took Sonic's hand and led him out of the room "We might as well go see how the resistance is going" she said

"You love birds do that, I got to go find Alex" Nagator said, jogging down the hallway and turning into the first room he saw. The sound of breaking glass echoed from the room, and Sonic knew he jumped out of a window to join the fight

"Well… Amy." Sonic said, using her name to emphasis a point "This is what this adventure entails… are you sure you can handle this?" he asked, referring to what they just did

"You mean overthrowing tyrannical dictators and killing people to ensure a better future for Mobius and our children?" she asked with a grin

"… Yeah" Sonic replied, un-phased by the mention of kids "It'll only get worse from this point on. Can you handle this?" he asked, hoping she would as he would love to have her along. But he needed to test her emotions right now

"…. I want to say yes Sonic, I really do. But …" she thought for a second, turning away from him as though she was thinking "After doing what we did, with the electric monkey and the super guards and Ratchet Gearo… I don't know right now" she said, turning back to him

"Ames, I promise I'll do what I can to protect you when I can…. But …." He said as he hand went up to cover his mouth

"Sonic, I'll follow you until the very end, you know that" she said simply "I just don't want you to force this on yourself. Thoice might be willing to do the killing for you, if you ask" she said, trying to give him a reason otherwise

The image of the scary hedgehog they saw before Ratchet Gearo rushed through his mind. He had similar white skin as Thoice, but that was it. As far as Sonic knew, that could be what Thoice turns into, except for he was a hedgehog rather than a cat. But seeing what the person was like and how someone could seem so thirsty for murder, he wanted to be no such thing. Sonic wanted no chance of becoming that… but…

"Amy, I'll die if I have to if it means a safe Mobius. I can't ask Thoice to kill for me, if it is what must be done to save the world." He said with a heavy heart "I just need you by my side to make this that much bearable for me" he said, looking into her eyes

"You know I will never lead you side" she said as she kissed him "But there isn't shame in asking for help" she said between kisses

"I know… but I don't think Thoice wants to kill again" Sonic said, knowing the man was tortured by his very existence

"I know this seems cruel, but it is the life he has… no one does it better" Amy said coldly "And I don't want you to turn out like that hedgehog we saw earlier

"Me neither Ames…. But I guess if I see Thoice again, I'll talk to him…" he said, hoping he would see the ocelot sooner rather than later

"Thank you Sonic" she said "Now let us go find Jacob"

The two walked out of the destroyed hallway, heading back to the elegant and beautiful entrance way, holding their hands and freeing their minds to the probability that more death loomed in their future.

"_Thoice…. How do you do it?"_ Sonic pondered as they reached for the door's handle

* * *

><p><strong>Before you ask, yes, the scary hedgehog is IN FACT an O.C... I just haven't given the name out yet, thus i tend to make that my reason to not credit someone yet, as i like to tie people going to visit that person once their character gets to have some action in the story... so yeah. That is how i work, i know, weird right?<strong>

**As for why this took so long to make, i can't really defend that. I was lazy for far too long. I got hooked on some good Manga/Anime and some school work, and a fair bit of League of Legends. I'm sorry for all those distractions, but i wanted some time away from writing, as it gets droll every now-and-then. I found someone who is willing to help me out, so i'll most likely get back to a semi-normal schedule, but don't hold your breath.**

**As for what you read, yes that is the end of the 'Rebellion' chapters, as you saw them free the city. Up next you'll see a small band of friends head from the city and continue this adventure, new characters will be shown in the story and hopefully the plot gets even better in your opinion (as i happen to rather enjoy it). Yes i want to finish up my 'Legacy' Series, but i decided to put that on hold for now, as i'm figuring out some slight facts about it still (namely just how deep i want to make the ending). Thanks for the support as always, my amazing fans.**

**Rate, Review, rave about this. As always, you can hit me up to talk (PM works just fine, but i have loads of other methods to reach me), and to answer some popular questions**

**1) No, Thoice isn't ready for 'other-works' yet, so please stop asking. I want to at least finish 'Legacy' before he gets under other artist's hands, but maybe i'll cave soon...**

**2) Freedom is suppose to take awhile to write, as i'm supposedly checking the work with the donors i have, and getting beta-read. That and the story is suppose to be put together better than its prequel**

**3) Yes, i play LoL as the username 'ZiGeNaToR', to those who figured me out**

**Much love,**

**Steven 'ZiGeNaToR' Ziegler**


	8. Step after Step

**Author's note:**

**Ok... wow... i have a LOT to say. But i know you've all been waiting OVER a flipp'n month for this, so please. Read first, then (if you care) read the rest of this note at the end.**

**I also want to thank some people for REFUSING to let me just stop this series (even though i totally wasn't planning on doing so, but they refused to leave me alone). **

**- Ultrabot Ultimus The Hedgehog**

**- DarkSideOfTheMoon19**

**- VGCats-Rocks**

**- DracoFreezeFlame**

**-Enjoy**

* * *

><p><strong>Step after Step<strong>

After Sonic and Amy left the destroyed mansion, the reality of the battle washed over the flickering lights of nearby street lamps. Bodies were strewn in the streets, be it organic or machine, but the blood and oil mixed everywhere that it was hard to separate where one began and the other ended.

"So this is what the war will do to the places we see..." Sonic said sadly, looking in particular to a dismembered arm. The limb lie there, seemingly clutching something that no one but the arm knew, but somehow in the way it seemed to be reaching, it caused Sonic to shed a tear

"What's the matter?" Amy asked, looking up into her heroes eyes

"Its..." he started to say, before deciding to not bother her anymore than he should "nothing, just saddened by the amount of soldiers dying to help our cause" he said honestly

"Yeah, hurts my feelings too" she said, as she grabbed his hand "But we can't dwell on the past, now can we?" she said upbeat, for his sake

"Yeah..." he agreed half-heartedly

"Good, let us go find young Jacob now" she said, pulling him down the street so he wouldn't be forced to look at the bodies any longer than he would have to normally

They soon found themselves back in the main square of the city, and the inn was still there. Still standing, and with moderate damage, Sonic sighed in relief that at least the city wasn't obliterated.

The two walked into the inn, and saw the entire place in tip-top shape, which only fueled the suspicion of what happened. The rat stood behind the counter, mindlessly cleaning the desk when he spotted the couple

"Yo, the boss has been looking for ye two" he said, as he reached under his desk. As he withdrew his hand from below their vision, the door in the back of the room swung open as if to invite the couple inside. They said a quick thanks and scurried off to see Kane

They entered the small office to see Kane standing infront of his desk, a large wrap around his leg, appearing that he had been shot or stabbed. Red color covered the wrap relentlessly, but if it hurt him, he sure as heck didn't let on.

"Aw, about time my cadets show up" he joked, "Don't worry about giving me a status report, Lightess already gave me the 4-1-1" he said simply

"I wasn't worried about that" Sonic said quickly "I'm worried about how you are going to take responsibility for the destruction that just ensued" he said with anger

"Relax big blue" he said with a sigh "I plan to, geez … you thought i didn't plan this through of something?" he asked

"Well... uhm..." Sonic started to reply, dumbfounded by the response

"We already have a man to elect into position, and he will help us topple Metal Sonic. For now, the goal is to rebuild the city and then prepare ourselves for any counter-attack by that metal psycho" Kane said strongly

"Yes, but can you ensure the citizens safety?" Amy chimed in too ask, genuinely worried for their safety

"Now, i wish i could promise that, but honestly... i don't know." Kane said begrudgingly "But i can promise that we will fight to the death to protect our newly found freedom" he swore, as he pounded his hand against his heart, signifying the seriousness of his statement.

"... Well... good" Sonic replied "Have you seen Thoice, Jacob or know where Lightess is?" he asked, those questions bouncing back into his head

"Uhm... lemme think" Kake replied as he kneaded his chin with his fist in thought "Thoice, haven't seen him in some time... Jacob should be around here somewhere... But i did giver Lightess directions, so she should be checking out the armory to see what our enemy had lying around for us to weaponize" Kane said

"Super!" Sonic called back, already out of the room and running down to the armory. He only knew where it was because he confused the building earlier as being a novelty store. "_Boy, you only make that kind of mistake once"_ he thought with a grin as the building came within sight

"Damn it! Let me just take one!" came an angry and childish shout from inside the building

"No, a pipsqueak like you is not only to young but too inexperienced to use such a weapon" came the authoritative and feminine voice.

"I'll fight you for it" came the reply

"_This won't end good"_ Sonic thought as he pushed the door open, ready to fight whatever looked at him. He saw Jacob and Lightess arguing over some type of weird blade-like thing.

"Oh, Sonic!" cried Jacob happily "Tell this stuck up prissy-pants that i can fight with a glaive!" he said

"A... what?" Sonic asked back, looking at the odd weapon

"Sonic, trust me here, i am a weapons expert. This kid is too young to master such a complicated weapon... or heck, really even fight in the first place" she said teasingly

"I didn't know what a glaive was until a few minutes ago, but if Jacob thinks he can use it, i trust his judgement" Sonic said earnestly, when Lightess shot him a glare of pure malice "That...of...course not saying i don't trust you... just fight the kid or test his abilities...or whatever" he managed to say

"Fair enough, Jacob" she said, handing the kid the weapon "I authorize you to use this, don't make me regret it" she said threatingly

The kid cheered with glee as he swung the weapon around with delight and laughter "I promise!" he eventually said, a smile plastered on his face

Lightess walked over to Sonic and whispered in his ear "I'm ready to leave in about five minutes, let's meet up outside the inn in about ten"

He nodded as she left, leaving Sonic with the glaive spinning child. "So Jacob, what are you going to do now?" he asked, curious what the kid would say

"Well... typically i'd like to join you on your little adventure and such, but i have to take care of S.A. 2 here... and then there is Nagator and Alex that i want to learn more about" he said slyly

"_The kid is pretty quick and manipulative"_ Sonic thought as he said "I like that plan, but are you sure you are alright with that choice?"

"Oh i'll catch up with you guys down the road, i don't mind. I could use a break from being with that insufferable green girl" he said childishly

Sonic smirked and rubbed the kid's head playfully "Atta boy, i'll see ya again down the road, i promise" he said as he left the armory to meet Lightess in front of the inn.

When he showed up, he saw Lightess and Kane talking about something, resulting in Kane handing her a small memory card that she immediately plugged into her visor and a resulting shade of blush covered her cheek as she bowed as if to thank Kane. The eagle laughed and walked back into the inn as Sonic walked up to Lightess.

"So, what was that all about?" Sonic asked casually, moderately curious himself

She jumped, startled and frantically said "N-n-n-n-nothing!" as she turned her back to him and set her visor into standby before turning back to talk with him "Anyways, is the kid coming with us or what?" she asked

"Naw, Jacob wants to stay back and help with the town's reconstruction and such..." Sonic lied, keeping the kids motives hidden as he knew Lightess worked with Kane on some level

"Odd kid, now if only your girlfriend could hurry up we could be on the road before long" the green hedgehog said impatiently

As if on cue, Amy walked out of the inn and over to Sonic "Well, i'm ready whenever you are" she said aloud, smiling as she took her place by Sonic's side

"Seems like a shame i can't say bye to everyone, but we have places to go and people to see" Sonic said as he gestured for them to go. The three of them walked to the cities main entrance, where the guards (re-fitted as rebel troops) gave them clearance to leave. Once outside, the three hedgehogs begun to sprint down the road, following Lightess to the next location, trusting that she knew where to go.

The three ran through the forest, taking in the beautiful sunset as the time turned to dusk, slowly enveloping their vision in the moon's glow. Lightess's visor, as it turns out, can be used as a pretty damn good light but even then, traveling as fast as they were, Sonic didn't want to leave so much to chance and reaction time. So they ultimately decided to set up camp for the night, and rest for the following day of travel, as Lightess made it sound like they had a great distance to cover.

"_Still... i get a whole night with her, i'm pretty sure i could figure something else about her..." _Sonic thought as he saw Lightess slowly starting a fire in the middle of their camping arrangement. She seemed to be stubbornly resisting using any of her gadgets, as if trying to start the fire by pure skill alone.

Sonic thought the site was immensely hilarious and begun to laugh soon after, which only caused Lightess to blush and eventually get angry at his action

"What! Its hard, alright?" she cried out in anger, throwing the sticks down in fury

"Only cause you are making it hard" Sonic said as he walked over. He grabbed the two sticks and brushed them against each other with high-speed strikes causing the flame to be lit on each "See, it is all about speed" he said as he tossed the flames into the pile of sticks to create their campfire

"... You don't have to keep telling me..." she mumbled to herself as she sat next to the flame

"I'm sorry, what?" Sonic asked, checking to see if he heard properly

"Oh nothing" she said quickly "Just... you remind me of my dad. Able to do anything, and then calmly trying to teach someone else how to be as amazing as he is" she said happily

"Your father eh?" Sonic asked, his curiosity now peaked "What's he like?"

"Oh..." she said, as she lazily begun to draw in the loose dirt around her, distracting herself slightly as she talked "He is a careful warrior, a proud husband and an amazing dad. He fights for the freedom of all Mobians and ... well ... he means a lot to me" she said with a slight blush

"Seems like a swell guy" he said, still not sure who that could be "So why aren't you with him, helping whatever it is he does?" Sonic asked

"I am helping... just in my own way" she said, brushing the dirt around to erase the doodle she made and starting anew "And if he knew, i think he'd be proud of what i've done" she said

"I bet he would be, you helped free a whole town and are helping to free more" Sonic said proudly "I can't imagine what kind of father wouldn't be proud of their daughter for doing all that" he said with a smirk

A tear rolled from Lightess eye and he could've sworn he heard "thanks", but she got up and dusted her pants off "I'm going to go check the parameter" she said, and with that she jogged away from the fire and followed her own light

"_What an odd girl... still, can't help but be curious who her dad could be..."_ he thought, ideas bouncing around his head

"So... you're curious as well?" Amy chimed in, startling Sonic from what must of been a long duration of thought

"Whoa Ames, how long have i been spaced out?" he said quickly and confused

"I dunno, a couple minutes?" she teased

"Ha, that is so unlike me" he said with a smirk "And yeah, i am curious. Who could raise such a child..." he said speculating once more

"You know what i think?" Amy said, to which Sonic nodded a shake of his head "I think it's Thoice's kid." she said

"Thoice... having a child?" Sonic said in disbelief "Although... it does seem to make some sense... how she always seems to know about him and be happy whenever she is around him" he admitted

"I mean, call it 'woman's intuition', but i think i might be onto something" she smirked "But enough of that, we need to catch some sleep for tomorrow. Got a lot of running to do, and chances are a fight or nine" she laughed as she curled up next to Sonic

"_Good point Ames... no need to bother myself with such thoughts for now"_ he thought as he cuddled against her and let slumber take him. Hoping to catch a normal night's sleep for once.

He awoke the following morning with a cuddled Amy against himself and a relaxed mind. "_weird, i usually am plagued by a bizarre dream or something like that..." _he thought, but didn't complain about. A good night's sleep is just that, good.

"Good, you're awake, we move out now" Lightess said, scanning the documents on her visor with most of her attention. She gave Sonic a weak smile and went back to reading, which only seemed to worry him

"Well, no time like the now" he smirked as he got up and shook Amy awake. A blow of the piko-piko hammer sent him into a nearby bush faster than he could blink. "Ugh..." he moaned as he dragged himself out of the bush

"Oh, so damn sorry Sonic!" Amy cried out as she got up and helped him out of the bush "It was just reflex, i swear!" she said quickly, as Sonic doubted it, he thought it would be better to not pursue such a topic

The three of them got off on a short jog, covering a great mass of distance when a small city showed itself over the horizon. Without a word exchanged between the three, they head to the city for (what Sonic assumed) directions.

They walked right inside the gates of the city, as there were no doors or walls to prevent them from doing so. The people seemed happy, or at least not depressed. In fact, this was the first city Sonic had seen in a long time where everyone just seemed to be getting along. The city was constructed namely out of wood and steel, making it seem old if not just rustic. The people dressed in a fashion that also matched the time, that is to say, old.

The males wore clothing that was associated with what they seemed to do. Be it miners clothes or just an apron with a wash cloth behind a bar. The women all wore dresses, some more eloquent than others, and were almost always in the presence of another man, almost as if they were being guarded.

"Odd place, dontchu think?" Sonic asked Amy, but all he got back was a starry-eyed gaze as she seemed smitten by the atmosphere

"Sonic, i LOVE this place" was her response, as she twirled around to take in all the sites. The mere action of her doing such made Sonic think that his girlfriend had completely lost her mind in the scenic part of their trip.

"Get ahold of yourself Ames..." he said as he grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes "We are trying to NOT draw attention to us, remember that?"

As the two were talking, Lightess had walked up to a man in very earthen garments and begun talking to him about something or another, the both of them making a lot of hand gestures as they talked. The very sight was slightly comical in Sonic's mind

The hedgehog couple walked over to talk with Lightess and see why they were in this town, when (as if on queue) she turned around and addressed them.

"Sonic, Amy." she said with a smile "This is Chief Gatsbro of the Delv clan" as she gestured to the man. Not wanting to risk being rude or anything, Sonic and Amy made a slight bow to the man and waited for either him or Lightess to say something

"My, my you are right Lightess. They totally did bow as soon as they heard my rank. I guess i do owe you some information then" he laughed. His voice was a little heavier than most, almost in a rustic nature. He appeared quite tall, but as to what race he was, that was hard to guess as he was behind a very thick earthen robe of leaves and branches.

"We... were used ... in a ... bet?" Amy said, a defeated smile on her face as she couldn't help but grin

"Yeah... leave that to Lightess to gamble us" Sonic agreed with a likewise grin. And with that, the three hedgehogs followed Chief Gatsbro into a large building that Sonic could only assume was the Chief's office or something

Inside the building were very few things, taking an incredible minimalist approach to decorating. There were a few chairs around the place, namlely constructed out of branches and huge leaves. A large table lay in the middle of the room, crafted from branches and a huge plank of wood that must of been gathered from a massive tree. The chairs were positioned all around this massive table, with documents scattered all across. The real oddity however was that the paper... well wasn't paper, but most of something older.

"Excuse me, Chief Gatsbro..." Sonic started when the man rose his hand to stop him there

"Please Sonic, call me Doko" the man said with a smile "I know what you have done for Mobius, so it is only fair we address each other on neutral ground"

"Fair enough" Sonic said, a little nervous now as he felt like he was being tested "Why are your documents written on some odd parchment?" he asked, leaving the other questions for later

"Oh? Papyrus is it's name, and i can only assume your confusion comes because you're in the modern era" he said plainly "We here at the Delv clan live in the past, avoiding the aid of technology such as electricity and even paper" he laughed

"But why?" was Sonic's follow up question

"Why not?" he asked "Years ago, we were quickly innovating and making leaps and bounds in science and tech when a brave man taught us the beauty of simple life. Swayed by his logic and the peace we found without the complications of technology in all facets of our life, we adapted this mentality and held onto it ever since." he said plainly as he removed his eloquent robe

Sonic expected something plain, based on the man's calm approach in conversation, and that is why the following site came as such a surprise to him. Chief Doko Gatsbro, was a gorilla. To be exact, a silverback gorilla, as Sonic was convinced it wasn't age alone that make his back literally silver. The man had massive arms and an incredibly built chest of muscle and raw strength. But the face was the confusing part for Sonic, as it had a wide range of emotions and passion. The man had the face that right then and there, Sonic knew the man loved to smile and laugh.

"But enough of that, Chief Gatsbro has been so kind to lend me some intel about our next destination." Lightess said with a grin

"To be fair, i lost a bet" he laughed

"A bet's a bet" she replied "And at any rate, about our glorious destination?" she said, taking a seat at the table

"Hold your tongue harpy" he laughed as he walked over to the obvious chair for the chief, as it was much larger than the rest "Sonic, Amy you may take a seat" he said with a chuckle

The two quickly sat down, and waited to hear the narrative of what was going to happen next, since Lightess had kept them in the dark for so long now that Sonic was starting to question her motives.

"Ok from what i understand, you have already met the fortress of Metaltropolis and then the city of Coretin... would i be correct?" Doko asked the hedgehogs, to which they nodded a 'yes' "Wonderful, well here is the quaint town of Brushill where, like i said earlier, we live in peace with the planet and curve from technology. So it would only be obvious that we aren't allies to the mechanized menace atop the spires of Metaltropolis" he said as a rabbit walked into the room wearing an earthen gown of leaves

"Oh, Chief Gatsbro you are entertaining guests. Shall i fetch some water?" she asked, taking a quick bow to the guests

"That would be lovely Aria" Doko said as the rabbit scurried from the room "Now what was i saying..." he said allowed, catching up to his thoughts as he kneaded his chin with his powerful fist "Ah yes, as for your next destination you must free the tragic city of Hexlipse" he said

"Hexlipse? I've never heard of this" Sonic said as the rabbit returned and dispensed water around the table in earthen cups that seemed crafted from clay. She then bowed again and left to the back of the room and through a door.

"Well it is an odd town, to say the least" Doko said as he took a drink of the water "They are a meshing of odd cultures, under the rule of a cruel mechanized man that Metal Sonic appointed there, so YES the town is under his control" he said

"Then tell me what i need to know" Sonic said, looking intently at Doko for answers

"Calm down he-of-the-wind" the gorilla laughed "in due time. The city is an industrial town, and that is all they care about. As long as the citizens put their hours in and work in some industry in the town, they don't care what religion you worship, whom you marry or what you do on your free time. That is its greatest blessing and thickest curse" Doko said with a sigh

"A curse?" Amy said, a shiver going up her back. They've had their experience with ghosts before, and Sonic remembered that Amy really didn't care for ghosts, thus he put his arm around her to comfort her. She took solace in the action and cuddled against him

"Miss Rose, you misunderstand me. When i say 'curse' i mean it more metaphorically rather than literal" Doko laughed "The city is plagued by sinners of all types. Remember, ALL Hexlipse cares about is their industry. What the workers do outside of that, they DO NOT care" he stressed the point

"So, do you wish for us to purge the city?" Lightess asked, a certain sparkle in her eye from the prospect of a fight

"Well... yes and no" Doko said tactfully "We want you to purge the sin from the land, that meaning remove their corrupt government" he said "Without Metal Sonic's rule, the city should be able to rebound and recreate itself as a respectable city of industry once more"

"That would only work, however, if there is a government ready to be installed. Otherwise anarchy will ensue and more damage than good will happen" Lightess said plainly again, reminding Sonic of how Shadow used to be.

"_She really is forgetting she is alive and thus having emotions. I guess i'll have to teach her to care..."_ Sonic thought as the conversation carried on

"Thankfully, yes. Their old order is still intact and waiting for a moment to reseize power. They managed to send their manifest to us about a year ago, and since then we've been trying to figure of a way to free them from their plight. And now you are here, so boom-bada-bing, lets go free a city" Doko laughed

"Will it really be that easy?" Sonic asked, the memories of what Coretin looked like after the rebellion fresh in his mind "Will hundreds die again?"

"Actually...no" Doko said with a sigh "I'm sorry you experience what you did with Coretin, but this is different. The citizens are apathetic of this up-and-coming fight, so most likely they will just avoid the streets. As for a resistance against us, that is only the government. So a couple dozen troops, tops. Asides from that, it will be you three batting about three dozen troops and toppling Metal Sonic's lacky in command there" Doko took another drink of water "Think you can handle that?" he asked

"Will there be a diversion?" Lightess asked

"Naturally" the gorilla said with a smirk "we will stage a pseudo-attack on their southern flank, forcing them to draw attention there. In the meantime, you three, with your supersonic speed, will flank into the northern sector and run right into the capitol building and... well ... free things" the chief laughed

"So, operation Freedom is a-go?" Sonic said with a smirk, liking his odds here

"Tomorrow it is" Doko said "We need to prepare our attack for tomorrow, so feel free to take today with some ease. Or... if you really can't wait, you can help us prepare for the assault. either way, we don't fight till tomorrow." he said sternly, for the first time since Sonic had met him

"Sir, yes sir" Lightess said with a salute as she got up and left the building, saying something about doing some recon

"Odd girl, isn't she?" Doko asked, looking at his remaining guests

"Yeah... don't know what is up with her, but she seems devoted to the cause... whatever cause it may be" Sonic said

"Dunno, looks like she is just devoted to your cause" the gorilla observed

"Yeah Sonic... she hasn't once said anything against your plans..." Amy chimed in

"Oh come on!" Sonic cried out "She isn't following me blindly" he tried to argue

"Be that as it may" Doko teased "She has a very interesting past, from what i managed to gather from a reliable source..." he started to say as Sonic interjected

"Was this source, by chance, a white ocelot?" Sonic asked

"You know him too?" Doko asked, surprise matched his face

"_Should have known"_ Sonic thought as he said "Yeah, we know him. In fact, we know him pretty damn well" he said

"Well then you know the founder of Brushill and the Delv clan" Doko said with a smile "But regardless of that little piece of trivia, about Lightess" he tried to continue the topic

"Then how old is he?" Sonic asked

"We like to believe he alive for his reasons of abandoning technology... but if you want an honest answer, i really can't give you one... for i am not entirely sure myself. He founded this clan over three-hundred years ago" Doko said

"Then... he is at least three-hundred-plus years old" Amy said, not sure what else to say

"Correct, but why bother? He wishes to help Mobius, and as long as his intentions are pure, i see no reason to question his motives." Doko said "But back to this Lightess of ours"

"Yes, please shed some light on this girl" Sonic said

"I would very much so like to know more about such an interesting person" Amy agreed

"Very well, but be warned. I don't know much about her, so if what i have to say isn't as much as you'd like, i apologize now" Doko said

The two hedgehogs said they understood and Doko called for Aria to return and refill their water cups. About three minutes later, the water was refilled and Doko was ready to begin his small narrative.

"Well it all begins awhile ago, about eight years after her birth" Doko begun "She was selected by her parents to join in some sort of task force, as her father believed she could be a paragon for good like he was" the gorilla recited, as if trying to quote Thoice word-for-word

"She excelled in the program, outstripping her competition by leaps and bounds, she quickly became an MVP in the program, letting her advance to the 'phase two' of this crucible" the gorilla took a drink and continued "By the time she was fifteen, she was in the final phase, which i was told was labeled as 'seven', and graduated soon there-after."

"So... she is some type of prodigal student?" Sonic asked, feelings of respect arose for the poor girl

"So it seems, she excelled in a few fields. I'm told she made a wonderful sniper and recon agent, being frequently given missions that were either dealing with stealing intel from enemy strongholds or assassinations on high-priority targets" Doko stated

"That poor girl, never being able to grow up normally..." Amy said sadly

"Oh you mistaken me, she chose this life. After phase one, it is up to the subject if they wish to continue, and the subject's choice alone" Doko said with a grin "She wanted this life more than anything, but for what reason... well that i can't say, for it confuses me far too much to think why any girl would want her life"

"Maybe she wanted to make her father proud?" Sonic asked

"Even if that is so, what father would be proud of her daughter turning into what she is... some type of professional agent... or something" the gorilla said with a head shake

"I wouldn't know... but i wish she'd talk to us about it" Amy said

"Wouldn't that be nice, but from what i understand, the bulk of her social interaction came from superior officers, so she really only knows how to take orders and how to relay information. like i said, she is the prime example of a soldier, agent or whatever you want to call her. But she doesn't know how to converse normally with people, and that, i feel is very detrimental to her growth" Doko said with a heavy heart

"Still... she may prove invaluable in the upcoming missions me and Ames have to do anyways" Sonic said, trying to be upbeat about what he just heard

"Sonic, at least promise me you will try to make her grow... if not just by a little bit" Doko said peacefully "It really is a sad thing when you see such a beautiful young girl and then learn that she never had a proper childhood and thus has become what you see before you. A cold and logical person, unaware of what emotions are"

"I promise Chief Doko, that i'll try my hardest to have her at least learn what emotions are" Sonic said, as he reached his hand out to shake his

"Then i shall keep you to your word" he replied, returning the gesture and symbolizing Sonic's promise with a quick up-and-down motion between their hands.

They quickly dispersed from the building, giving Doko some time to himself. Amy and Sonic decided to take in the peace of the surrounding wildlife around them, for they knew that these days would be coming to an end soon.

"Sonic... want to go for a walk?" Amy asked

"More than anything" he replied, just wanting to shake his thoughts away from Lightess and Thoice for once. A quick kiss from Amy lifted his thoughts away and the two started down a nearby trail into the surrounding thickets. The dense canopy was magnificent in presence, as everything was lush and green. Irrigation ditches flowed throughout the forest, granting life to so much more than what would normally be there. The trees were tall and thick, as they were beautiful and lush. A variety of creatures lived among them, and the most beautiful butterflies flew around the canopy without a thought in their mind.

The two hedgehogs sat on a fallen tree and just watched the beauty of nature in front of them, enjoying each other's company as well as the wealth of noises from the forest. The chirp of the birds, the croaks of the frogs and even the ever constant gurgle of the stream. For what felt like hours, Sonic was at peace with the world and his mind.

"Sonic..." Amy said, breaking the serenity in his mind

"Yeah Ames?" he asked, tearing his gaze from the beauty of the forest, into the gorgeous girl that was his

"Are you comfortable having to free cities from Metal Sonic, despite having so many lives spent in the process?" she asked, clearly referring to the scene after freeing Coretin

"Honestly?" he asked, and she nodded emotionlessly "No. Seeing so many bodies strewn on the ground, made me just feel sick to my stomach. I don't want to be associated with such, but Metal Sonic needs to be stopped and this seems like the only way to do such" he said, trying to justify himself to himself

"I know... but why not have Thoice do that and you can help another way?" she asked

"_And have everyone die?"_ he thought, not sure of how Thoice would do the same "I dunno... if i could talk with him... then maybe. But i guess i'd rather personally try to spare as many lives as i could, whereas i feel Thoice would just purge the city" he said with a smirk, not wanting to believe that

"I do not think Thoice would do that, and who knows... he might be better at this, as he was an expert as an assassin when he was younger" she said, referring to the old stories of him

"Yes, and didn't he hate every waking moment of it?" he asked, to which Amy nodded "I'm afraid if we expose him to more of that, we might lose his peaceful side and get something horrific from him" Sonic said

"I guess... but still... talking to him could be nice by itself" she repeated

"I guess" Sonic said, as something clicked in his mind "_Her father believed she could be a paragon for good like he was_" Doko had said. "Hey Ames... you think Lightess could be Thoice's daughter?" he asked

"Huh?" she replied, taking a second to think about it "I guess... maybe?" she said "But it seems unlikely, for some reason or another"

"I'm aware of that, but i was just thinking about what Doko said, and it would actually make sense for her to be his daughter" Sonic said again

"Well, based on what i heard, it would also make sense if you were her daughter too" Amy said with a laugh "But let us not worry about that, and get back to town"

Sonic looked up past the canopy and saw that the sun was setting "Yeah, i guess you are right" he said as he took her hand and walked back to the city with her "_Still... why do i want to know more about her?"_ he asked himself as the small slice of nature was slowly left in their footsteps

They got back to camp and saw Lightess on top of a nearby building, mindlessly checking stuff with her visor. She offered a lazy wave to Sonic and Amy and went back to reading something.

"That girl... i swear" Amy said with a smirk as she went over to the building

"That girl... i swear" Sonic repeated, directing it to either of the two. "Well at least my days aren't boring" he said looking around and seeing the entire town was prepared for war. Large catapults seemed fully functional, as well as a plethora of other weapons dating about the same era. Slings with rocks, odd explosives with fuses attacked and even spears were all lined and ready. "I sure hope these guys know what they are doing" he said aloud, looking over the weapons

"I hope so too" came a voice from behind him. Sonic jumped and turned around to see Doko standing behind him

"Whoa man, don't startle me like that" Sonic said with a sigh

"My apologizes" the gorilla said with a laugh "But don't worry about us hedgehog, we know what we are doing. Remember, we aren't fighting a battle, but putting on a show" the man laughed

"Still, they are going to fire down upon you relentlessly for being attackers" Sonic said

"I think not" the gorilla said slyly "Come, i want to show you something" he said as he gestured Sonic to follow him

The two walked back into the chief's building and went into the back room where the ornate throne room was. Unlike the main room, this throne room had decorations everywhere. Paintings, sculptures and art of all shapes and sizes filled the room. A beautiful throne sat in the back with a pedestal next to it bearing a crown. The crown was interesting, as it was crafted out of branches interwoven to mimic a grown. A beautiful but unknown gem sat at the front, shining it's pale white glow ahead of the crown.

"See my crown?" Doko asked, judging the hedgehog's reaction

"Uhm... yeah?" Sonic replied

"Do you know what that gem is?" he asked

Sonic looked at the gem intently, trying to figure this riddle out himself. It was clearly no gem he knew, nor was it a chaos emerald. "Nope... can't say i do" he replied shortly thereafter

"It is because no one knows where this gem came from" the gorilla laughed "Thoice gave it to the first chief of this tribe as a way to preserve the peace" he said

"And how does a gem do that?" Sonic asked

"Once the crown is worn, the gem becomes active. When the gem is active, all technology in a five mile radius is nullified" Doko said with a grin

"_Wait... that means..."_ Sonic thought

"I know what you're thinking. 'Why not take this gem and invade Metal Sonic's empire while he can't react at all?', would i be right?" the gorilla asked, to which Sonic nodded "If only it was that easy. This metal man has a second line of defense, to which this gem empowers. I believe you met them once before, but they are called 'Darkoids" he stated

"You mean those shadow things i had to battle?" Sonic asked, the memory of that fight fresh in his mind

"Correct. Seems this gem makes them stronger than they typically are. So, yes i could charge our armies inside the capitol and make Metal Sonic's defense's useless against us, but these Darkoids would tear us to shreds" Doko said with an ironic smile

"I see..." Sonic said, the confusion of this plot only growing

"But for tomorrow's skirmish, these gem should make our attack a pretty straight forward one" Doko said happily

"Still, why don't you help liberate all these cities if you have such a weapon?" Sonic asked

"Weapon?" the gorilla asked confused "No Sonic, this is a way of life" he said "Yes we can use it for offense or defense, but it only continues to work if the bearer lives the way of the gem, which is to say, without technology of the electrical type involved"

"Yeah, so do that in the front lines" Sonic said

"AND" Doko said, startling Sonic "The wearer must be a pacifist, so you see why i can't attack freely 'else i'll loose our precious defense from a growing world of hostile nations" Doko said sadly

"I'm sorry, i just want this damn war to be over with" Sonic found himself saying "I didn't mean to force you to take up arms or anything"

"It is quite alright Sonic, this is why we stage an attack for you. If it was within my power, we would of taken the city a year ago... but we can't. So we keep our city safe from the growing world"

"Must be hard to do" Sonic said

"Sometimes, impossibly. You know what happens when one of our kin gets swayed by technology?" Doko asked

"They get exiled?" Sonic replied

"Exactly. Someone you've known for thirty years falls for something outside our customs, and you are forced to banish them from your lands. I've lost many of my kin this way, and only three in actual battle" Doko said with a heavy heart

"Well, i hope you lose no one tomorrow" Sonic said, patting the gorilla on the back as he left the room leaving a very large gorilla there, staring at a gem as if the rock held all the answers

Sonic found his way to the middle of the city, where Amy and Lightess were waiting for him. The two seemed freshened up, and when he asked they replied that they used the hot springs to clean themselves up.

"Hot Springs eh?" Sonic asked

"Yeah, they are marvelous, and just right over there" Amy said, pointing off in the direction where steam was rising

"Well, i'll go hit that up and we can meet up later for a well deserved nap" he said

"Affirmative" Lightess replied "Come Amy, let us prepare a habitable rest quarter" the green hedgehog said, as she was walking off

"Hey, wait for me" Amy said, quickly giving Sonic a kiss and chasing after the girl

"_Yep... i wouldn't trade this life for anything"_ he thought as he head to the hot springs.

The place was beautiful, as rocks encircled a massive bath for the guys, and Sonic assumed the women's were the same if not hidden by trees and fence. The water let a constant stream of steam into the air, making the cold night air rather warm and relaxing. Sonic hopped into the hot spring, after removing his clothing and shoes, which he placed in a pile near a rock next to the water.

"Ahhhhh, so relaxing!" Sonic cried out, as he slunk into the water and let the warmth relax his body

"Don't lose yourself in the comfort" a familiar voice said to him.

Sonic opened his eyes and looked at a pale white ocelot looking back at him.

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><p><strong>Ok, no idea how i got fans like you people. About ... 6 weeks in? or is it 7? anywhoodle, i haven't uploaded in some time, and i am HUGELY sorry for that. At first, i had finals for school, so that was the first two weeks. Then i went down to a convention for the third week. The fourth week i went to the east coast with family. but weeks 5 - 67, well i don't have reasons for that. OTHER than i had to purge my computer for stoopid reasons, and forgot to make backups of any of this stuff... so i had to restart a lot.**

**So i stopped using Word for my writing, and am now using Google Docs. Which opens up a sweet deal for my loyal fans. You can read and edit my documents before seeing them here on , so... if curious, feel free to PM me about it. I believe you'll need a Gmail account to do such, but whatever. **

**Now to the story at hand, like i said, i had to purge EVERYTHING out, which was annoying. I had about 1500 words the first time, and then lost it all. Now i have this chapter instead, and i hope it turned out fine. I realized as i was writing, that it was hard for me to get into my characters again. I hope that i slip back sooner than later, as you people deserve such. As for this chapter in general, it was just a segway chapter between the chaos of Chp 7 and the soon to come chaos of Chp 9. I wanted a peaceful chapter between the two, as well as a little background on that mysterious 'Lightess' character.**

**I'll be getting back into the swing of things later, but sadly it will only be on 'The Mobian Adventures: Freedom', as i don't want to have to switch mentalities to pick up on 'Legacy' again. I will finish 'Legacy' one of these days, but i want to cover more ground in 'Freedom' first.**

**To all people who wish to help me write, suggest locations / characters, or just say hello. Feel free to hit me up with a PM or whatevz.**

**Thanks for the support,**

**Steven 'ZiGeNaToR' Ziegler**


	9. Siege

**Author's note:**

**Ok... another month essentially goes by, and i finally update. Golly gosh, and i used to be doing like three - five of these a week, where did that effort go? I assume you want excuses, and i really don't have that many, i was just busy working on a book that i'm actually looking forward to getting published (No, it isn't Sonic Fanfic) and playing lots of League of Legends in my downtime... so... yeah**

**Anywhoodle, this is the first chapter in the siege of Hexlipse, i believe i originally designed it to be a three-parter, but i may complete it in the next chapter**

**Regardless, i hope you enjoy and i want to thank the contributors for their O.C.'s... from like... a month + ago, and i finally got around to putting them in like i originally intended. D**

**1: DracoFreezeFlame : for : his character Malik**

**2: fire assassin :for: his character Tim Hughes**

**These characters were flipp'n awesome when they were first pitched to me, and i am only sorry it took so long to get them in... anyways, ENJOY**

* * *

><p><strong>Siege <strong>

Sonic couldn't believe his eyes, as right in front of him was the person he most wanted to talk to right now. The man has been yanking his chain for the last week or so, about the future and the people he meets. Sonic wanted nothing more than to wrench a few answers out of this person he loosely referred to as a friend.

"Thoice, of all places..." Sonic begun to say, a tone of venom in his voice

"Now calm down Sonic, i am here after all to address some questions of yours" the ocelot replied, lazily sinking into the hot spring. "Never thought i'd see you in water, of your own volition however" he jested

"It happens from time to time" Sonic replied, a few choice memories came to mind

"Yes, but to the matter at hand. Your siege on the neighboring city" he said calmly

"Hexlipse, you mean?" Sonic asked

"... so they kept that name, eh?" the ocelot purred as he looked up with some sort of lost daze

"Hey, hey Thoice!" Sonic cried out, splashing his guest with a light amount of water

The ocelot shook his head in a blur motion and looked back "Sorry, got lost in my thoughts. Yes Hexlipse is the place. And unlike this little haven in Bushill, this city is something that... well i guess if i had to pick something similar..." the ocelot said, thinking to himself for a couple seconds "Do you remember Casinopolis?"

The hedgehog nodded and said "The land of casino boards and crazed robots..."

"Correct, this is something close to what Hexlipse will be like. Just instead of carefree game boards, think more of a military obstacle course disguised as an industrial city."

"Wait? What do you mean by that" Sonic asked

"Well, the city looks innocent and industrial. What with its massive pillars of smoke and factories lined up everywhere, but in all honesty, the land is a military training point. This isn't for the elite corp, however. But more of the general troops and so forth, so expect some real resistance" the ocelot said while scratching his head with boredom

"Why didn't Doko tell me?" Sonic asked

"Why should he of?" Thoice replied "He needs your help to topple the city, and you are a pawn to him. Well... maybe a Rook or a Knight" Thoice said with a laugh "But get used to this, people of both sides will be vying to make you act out their goals, while at the same time lying to you about the truth behind the truth"

"So... i will be used time and time again?" Sonic asked

"Correct. Unless the people can truthfully convince you they are on your side, then they are only one foot in the door... to say metaphorically"

"So... you are on my side, correct?" Sonic asked, as this conversation was slowly getting to the point he wanted it to

"I am in your foyer sipping on a glass of tea and reading the newspaper" he replied, using his earlier analogy's world

Sonic sighed in relief, thankful to have at least one person with him. "_Well... then again i'll always have Amy on my side to, right?"_ he asked himself

"As for your travel companions, i can vouch for the both of them being on your side, as well as that dog you met earlier... what is his name... Jacquez?" Thoice murmured to himself in thought

"Its Jacob" Sonic replied, helping the cat's memories

"Aw yes, quite. He is with you too" the cat purred "But there will be more, and together you shall weave a web of friends you can trust to help you carry out your plan in the end of all this." he said plainly

"I actually have a question about that" Sonic said, readying himself to ask the question he was most looking forward to asking

"Oh do you now, i can't wait to find out what about" the cat said whimsically

"Why can't you do all this?" Sonic asked, to which a blank stare looked back at him. "To rephrase my question, i guess... why do i have to liberate all of Mobius and then go on some level of a suicidal mission against Metal Sonic?" he asked

"Why indeed" Thoice agreed, to which Sonic was taken aback, not prepared for such a response

"_Maybe he is trying to get inside my head and mess with me..."_ Sonic thought , vowing to not be confused by this cat's style.

"At first, we of the council chose you for reasons of great heroism. A person we can rely on when times get tough, but as we saw the events folding outwards, we saw exactly how much you are against and begun to weigh the outcome in our favor by recruiting people to your side. As in, why do you think Metal Sonic's machine malfunctioned and gave Amy powers to keep up with you?" the cat asked

"... You ... were..." Sonic tried to reply, his head feeling ready to blow from all this change in what he thought

"Exactly, we knew she would be vital to you, not only for peace of mind but for this overall 'mission' as the two of you work flawlessly together. But as time progressed and our simulations kept running, we learned that the two of you weren't enough, so we added a few other people to your roving posse', as it were" the cat said with a mysterious expression on his face that made it impossible for Sonic to even think about what the cat could be thinking

"_He is trying to mess with me, get me to doubt myself... but why? Why now of all times?"_ Sonic questioned himself, just shaking his head back and forth and trying to understand

"And so this will continue, as we still have some events planned out for you to help weigh you in favor of our goals... i'm sorry if it sounds like we are treating you like some type of auction bid, but understand we are trying to free Mobius... feel free to doubt and disbelieve me, but be careful from now on. Now that you know, the other factions will be looking into changing the outcome in their favor, so expect bribes and extortion soon..." The cat said with a sad look on his face.

Sonic couldn't believe what he was hearing, he looked up at the stars for guidance, watching them twinkle thousands of miles away made him feel a little better.

"_Can this really be true? I'm some kind of pawn being bartered with on some type of planetary gameboard of chess? Why don't i get a say in this? I mean... i guess i want to free Mobius too, but i want to do it by my own reasons, and not some council. And whatever these people try to barter me with, be it bribery or extortion, i'll be ready to say no and move on... right?"_ he thought losing himself to his own thoughts.

A star shot across the sky, and he thought about making a wish, but pushed the idea out of his head, knowing that wishes couldn't help him now. "So Thoice, what is it this council wants?" he asked, watching the stars and looking for any constellation he could find

No response, other than the water bubbling and some nighttime sounds of insects

"Thioce?" Sonic asked, as he looked down to see an empty hot spring.

"_Naturally... he can only tell me so much before he has to go, right?"_ Sonic thought, a grin showing on his face for making excuses to the most mysterious person he knows

Sonic strolled back to the camp-zone dedicated to him and the girls he traveled with, albeit he had no idea what it looked like, as all he asked for was where it was. He dried himself off with a towel during the walk back, but primarily his thoughts sunk back to the conversation he just had, thus his walking pace was next to nothing, as he wanted all the time he could have to think as he walked.

"So... according to that damn cat, i am now a bartering chip between the several factions of fate now... but how can i free myself from this web of confusion?" he pondered aloud, thinking slowly while the beautiful moonlight colored the landscape in its opulent beauty.

He finally arrived to the campsite for he and the girls, to see it was quite literal. A nice fire with three sleeping bags danced around the flickering flame.

"Oh hey Sonic, you done with your business with Doko?" Amy asked as she strolled over to him and planting a kiss on his cheek "Oh, you smell nice, didja bathe or something?" she asked innocently

"Yeah, i just came from the hot springs, and that was nice and relaxing" he said, deciding to hide his meeting with Thoice from her for now

"Awwww, and to think the two of us could of bathed together..." she said with a saddened face

"I wouldn't think so Amy, considering the bath house is separated by gender, you would of had a wall dividing the two of you" Lightess said innocently enough, as she mindlessly read something or another on that gadget screen thing she always wore.

"_I think Lightess would know something about all this..."_ Sonic thought to himself, deciding to pursue his thought a little further "Hey greenie, want to go on a quick walk?" he asked

"Greenie?" she said with a flushed face "What gives you the right to call me that?" she said defensively

"_Whoa... i hit a sore spot..."_ he thought defeatedly as a smirk took his face "Relax, i didn't mean anything by it, now come on" he said, taking her hand and leading her from the campsite

"Hey, i wanna come with" Amy said as she started to follow

"No thanks Ames, i just want to have a chat with her one-on-one" he said honestly

"Oh... fine, i'll just watch the stars or something" she said

"Why not try the hot springs" Sonic suggested as he walked further off with Lightess

The two hedgehogs walked until they came to a more abandoned part of the city, to which Sonic decided to begin the conversation

"So it's about Thoice, is it?" Lightess said, beating him to the conversation

"Uhm... yeah" he replied, curious how she knew

"Not hard to guess, i saw him leaving the city before you showed up, and resisted chasing him down" she said with a slight chuckle "but i'm guessing something he said to you riled you up?" she asked, having her gadget sit by in standby as she cocked her head and looked at him with renewed vigor

"Actually yeah" he said, as he quickly recapped the conversation with Thoice to her. She would occasionally ask a question during his recount, but for the most part she just looked at him with a gaze of intrigue

"Wowie, well isn't somebody special here" she said, as he finished his story "Didn't know the famed Thoice looked at you with such esteem" she said with a nudge on his arm, clearly trying to tease him

"So, you know what i'm going to ask then, right?" Sonic posed, curious on what her reaction would be

"Well, if it is anything like how my father thought, you want to know what my feelings are for invading a nearby city to overthrow it... or would i be wrong?" she replied, a devious smile on her face

"Well..." he slowly said, amazed she pinned his question perfectly "_I wonder who her father was"_

"And the answer is yes, but you probably want a reason, right?" she asked, to which Sonic nodded "Alright, asides from Thoice being involved, i want to do this invasion for a few fun reasons. Namely i want to see if my skills are up to par, i mean invading a town and pulling a small-man coupe' has to be tricky, and i want to see where that goes. Asides from that however, i really want to topple anything that is associated with Metal Sonic" she said, lazily drawing nonsense into the dirt with her foot as she talked

"So, you are just in it for the adventure?" Sonic summarized, as he felt that was her real reason

"Well... yeah" she said as though it were completely obvious "What other reason is there for doing things?" she asked, almost confused by the probability of such a phenomenon "I mean, that was all father lived for... soooooo"

"_Who ever her father is, i like him"_ Sonic thought with a smirk "Oh nothing, just glad you are on my side" he said as he patted her head and begun to walk back to his campsite to meet up with Amy and then, hopefully, some sleep

"Sonic?" she asked, as he turned around to look at her "Are you ready for whatever happens?" she asked, a for the first time on her face, Sonic saw a serious tone echoed throughout

"_She's worried?"_ he thought "Lightess, i'm ready to do whatever needs to be done to free Mobius, so if it means sieging a nearby town controlled by Metal Sonic, then i have my day planned out." he laughed

"Let's see if you feel like that tomorrow..." she said solemnly as she walked past him quietly

"_I wonder what got to her?"_ he thought as he slowly followed her back to the campsite, giving her the space he felt she needed

"So... how was your talk?" Amy asked as he curled up next to her

"Went pretty good, but i guess i said or did something wrong because now she seems all out of whack..." he said with a tinge of worry in his voice

"It's alright" she replied, petting his head "She's a big girl, i'm pretty sure she'll get over whatever you did and move on for tomorrow's mission"

"I hope you are right?" he said as the fatigue started to take him over

Amy gave him a quick good-night kiss, he quickly drifted to sleep thereafter as the peaceful night sounds blanketed the rural city

*Clang*

The echo of a metal tube being hit by perhaps, another metal tube rang through Sonic's ears as he shot awake to the morning sun.

"What was that noise!" Sonic cried out as he rolled into a standing position, albeit in a comical way

To his surprise, there wasn't a single person awake. in fact, everyone was still soundly asleep, oblivious to any such noise.

"_I heard something loud... right?"_ he thought, beginning to second guess himself

He frantically looked around, but ultimately he could not find any such source that would make the sound like he heard. "_The sound i heard was similar to metal on metal, as in a large metal scraping sound. And yet, this town has a serious lack of metal to make said sound..."_ he thought, looking at all the wooden structures and so forth "_So what did i hear?"_ he thought, as he slowly sat back down, trying to calm himself

He, ultimately, was unable to return to sleep so he sat there in silence watching the sun slowly take its place in the sky, and thought about the up-and-coming battle.

A good forty-five minutes passed before Amy and Lightess begun to stir, and Sonic thought it was comical to see them both waking up in almost identical ways. "_Sort of like watching Mother and Daughter"_ he thought with a comical grin

The two were soon awake, some early morning banter went on and they then went back to the chief's area to inquire on what was going to happen next, as this day needed to go perfectly

They arrived to a rather empty room, with only Chief Doko sitting at the table mindlessly reading piles of papers, and bags under his eyes. If he heard the hedgehogs enter the room, he gave no indication of such

"Morning Chief" Sonic said, a yawn following

"Good morning hedgehogs" he replied, a yawn as well "Do you wish for some breakfast before battle?" he asked

"Uhm... sure" Sonic replied, as the innocence of the question caught him off guard

Doko clapped his hands twice, and a couple of animals in maid-esquie like uniforms came from a nearby room and proceeded to ask Doko why he beckoned. He replied with breakfast demands, albeit in an incredibly polite and fatherly way. The maids bowed their heads and returned to the room from whence they came, the sounds of fire and water with the occasional cutting sound could be heard from the room

"So Doko..." Sonic said, trying to fill up the sudden silence in the room "I see you didn't get much sleep last night"

"Sonic, how does a leader sleep when he knows carnage awaits his people tomorrow?" Doko replied, his usual comical self nowhere to be found

"True, but a leader needs to lead his people into battle" came the cold hard logic from Lightess

"And that shall happen, i spent all night reading any source of material i had on Hexlipse, trying to find lore of their weaknesses or some strategic gain i could use to minimize the chance of casualties for my people today" he replied, adding yet more pages to an increasingly large pile next to him and taking some new pages from a continuously diminishing pile to be read

"Oh?" Sonic replied, his curiosity rising "And what did you find?" he asked

"Well, for starters, during the rainy season they open their portcullis more often than usual, which would've allowed us access into their city that way" he said, but as it was summer, this fact was moot " Throughout the middle of summer they hold a festival of explosives, known as the 'Firecracker Festival', and that causes their security to be beefed up more than usual" he said

"So... all in all, nothing new?" Sonic said, feeling his glimmer of hope flying away

"Not at all, this is surprisingly amazing" Doko said, his tired eyes regaining energy as he seemed to hype himself up "This festival was exactly what i was hoping for"

"Explain yourself" Lightess said

"As you wish, my biggest concern as you know, is my people's lives" Doko begun to say, popping his neck "But this festival means they will have all their guards out and about, which means when we attack, i can be assured to draw the entirety of their police force" he said happily

"And ... why does that make you happy?" Amy asked, curious now

"Because, i was concerned they would see through the attack and leave detachments behind to deal with you... with this luck, you should be able to have a flawless victory, and with the element of their festival on my side, i should be able to nil any casualties" he laughed as the maids returned with plates of food and pitchers of drink

They ate in peace, very little conversation held between them and soon the hedgehogs were dismissed to invade the city... it went a little like this

"Ok Sonic..." Doko said, taking one last drink of water "I have to prepare the troops for battle, so i need you and your girls to sneak into the city now and hold out in like an inn or something until we begin the assault" he said plainly

"Wait... how am i going to do that?" Sonic asked, as he had been under the impression that he, Amy and Lightess were going to invade during the assault

"Simple... you move fast, dontchu?" he asked plainly

"Well..." Sonic begun

"Then do that, move fast and sneak inside. For a military controlled city, they have surprisingly bad security for illegal immigration into the city... that or they just don't care" Doko resigned

"Well... i guess... but still" Sonic tried to argue

"I don't have time to explain everything to you Sonic, just get into the city and wait for the signal... to be clear, the signal is us attacking" Doko said with a laugh as he proceeded to walk out of the building

"Geez Sonic, making everything so complicated" Amy said with a laugh

"Yeah... but" Sonic tried to say

"Your indecisiveness will be the death of us" Lightess chimed in

"Still..." Sonic begun

"Lets get going now" Amy said as she dragged his arm

"But... what about..." Sonic tried to say

"_... And that is how we got to be in this ran down inn"_ he thought to himself, as he looked around to the miscreants that dwelled within the establishment.

Within the bar were a series of odd character, giving Sonic the feeling that there were like seven different rebellion movements similar to his that were going to go on tonight, which he laughed at that mere thought

Off in the southern corner of the room was a tiger who just seemed to be enjoying a book, about what Sonic wasn't particularly sure. He had some pistol strapped to his belt, and some type of nifty blade tied to the opposite side. This gave the appearance that he would be able to survive any type of bar brawl, albeit he seemed far too much at peace reading his book to care. What really put Sonic off though about this guy is that he felt that we was being watched by him, but he couldn't prove that no matter how hard he tried.

After the tiger, there were a group of wolves two tables over, they were rowdy and noisy as they drank beer and played some card game that must of required yelling to be played properly, 'else they were beyond stupid.

A couple tables over there was some oddity of a person there. He was some greenish-blue lizard like person there. Vaguely reminded Sonic of Espio, at least in the sense of how he acted. The aquamarine lizard had a very clear mechanical left leg, which looked out of place with the garb he wore. His clothes were very ninja-like, as in they felt taken out of a ninja movie. They were smoke grey with sky blue lining on them, and as for a weapon he appeared unarmed.

"_Must be hiding weapons in his ninja-space"_ he thought with a laugh as he glanced across the tables for the other people in the bar

Finally, closer to where Sonic was sitting, were a group of muscular alligators and bears, that were drunkenly playing in some type of arm-wrestling contest. "_isn't it a little early to be stupid?"_ he thought, vowing he'd use that line if some type of bar-fight breaks out

"So... you girls just want to stay here and watch the citizens for a while or what?" he asked innocently enough

"Learning about a populace is vital information for any interior attacks, such as ours" Lightess said as she mindlessly spun a coin on the table

"I just enjoy people watching" Amy said with a girlish smile

"I see" he said lamely as they begun their 'mission' of relaxing in a bar and waiting for the busy night to begin.

About an hour passed, and the clientele really didn't change, if anything a few more wolves were added to the aforementioned table of card players... but ultimately nothing new was developing. The tiger was still reading whatever book immersed him and the ninja-lizard might of fallen asleep, Sonic wasn't entirely sure.

"_Wow... if this town is really this boring, i don't have any qualms about what i'm going to do to it tonight"_ he thought

"HEY! What's the wise idea, bub!" shouted one of the alligators from the table of muscle bound morons

"I saw that! Best put the money back on the table there, honey bear!" an alligator threatened

"The hell i did anything like that, you stupid reptile!" the accused bear retorted with anger "You're just blaming me for the money you pocketed, you loud purse!"

"You want to take this outside!" the alligator retorted with anger, throwing his hand on the table with a resounding thud that drew everyone's attention to him, if they weren't already attracted by the shouting

"Why walk so far!" the bear shouted as he leapt over the table and engaged the alligator. The two of them begun exchanging blows between each other, with no regard to blocking, so a fight of pure endurance was taking place. Naturally, their friends wouldn't stand still so it quickly became an alligator versus bear fight within seconds, chairs being broken and bodies flying.

"Damn... i knew this was going to happen at some point or another" Sonic said under his breath, thinking of what he and the girls should do now

"Oh sweet! A bar fight, count us in!" the wolves shouted as they ran across the bar to jump into the fray, a whole new swatch of swear words and broken tables echoes throughout the establishment

"So... should i neutralize the targets?" Lightess asked, taking her weapon out of the thin air, in a similar manner to how Amy retrieves her hammer.

The raging bar brawl was nearing the 'sleeping' lizard, to which he reacted by jumping from the chair he was on and standing on the wall, leaving a chair lit on fire behind him. He then threw some type of bomb into the fire which exploded into a cone from the fire and covered several of the brawlers in fire, adding a whole new levels of screaming to the bar's atmosphere. After that distraction, the lizard seemed to of disappeared from sight, worrying Sonic slightly

The remaining bar brawlers begun to scurry to the entrance/exit of the bar, as there was only the one door, when the tiger who was reading his book the entire time, finally put his book down. He stood up slowly, un-sheathed his blade and stood there ready to engage

The flaming brawlers heeded no mind to this man and continued to bum rush the door, to which the tiger said something under his breath and acted almost like he prayed to something before he leapt into combat

He swung his sword and contacted with the first brawler (a wolf) using the flat side of the blade, but with so much force that the wolf went flying and crashed outside by going through the window. The tiger then wound himself back and swung his blade in a fashion similar to a golf club, hitting a bear in the jaw with the flat side, yet again. The bear went skyrocketing into the ceiling.

Seeing two people quickly dispatched, the remaining people there decided to cheat this fight now. A couple wolves took out some stun guns and taser sticks, while the alligators and bears cracked their knuckles and rushed this sword swinging tiger

The tiger merely grinned, and moved his free hand in some sort of arcing pattern and the electricity jumped to his hand, creating a giant discharge of power in his hand. The tiger recoiled in shock temporarily and then crafted his hand across the sword, and the energy danced along the blade ferociously as it cackled madly in the bar

The remaining bar brawlers were startled by this, but if they had a reaction they didn't get to make one, as the tiger dashed at them with such speed that not even Sonic's eyes could keep up, and in all of a second, the remaining ten~ish bar patrons were thrown out of the bar.

The tiger flourished his blade lazily and sent the energy harmlessly into the wooden chair as he sheathed his blade and grabbed his book. He proceeded to walk over to where Sonic and the girls were sitting, to which he made a slight bow in front of them

"Greetings Sonic the hedgehog and friends, I am Tim Hughes, last remaining member of 'The Redeemers' and your conscripted party member to help with the takeover of Hexlipse" the tiger said, as he brought his head back up from his bow

He had a young face, mayhaps he was in his early twenties. No real disfiguring scars or anything, his face seemed very accustomed to smiling, as if he spent all day being happy. His clothes were of a standard military garb, then fashioned slightly by what would seem himself. He had a vest on him which carried a small knife along the side, an impressive logo was on the back of the vest which bore the words 'The Redeemers'. He had some baggy pants which had the belt loop which wore his gun and his sword. His book seemed to have it's own slot in the pants, as he tied the book back into the craney.

"Well... hello Tim..." Sonic begun to say, slight confusion at what was happening here "You mind me asking what's going on here?"

"Not at all Sonic, it really is quite simple" Tim begun to explain "The council of time held a meeting and asked if i would help you in this mission" he started to say

"Now wait there, what is this council?" Sonic asked, remembering Thoice saying something similar

"Well... i don't know much, as they are incredibly indirect... the rumor goes that not even the members know who each other are" Tim laughed "But regardless, they are the driving force for the events on Mobius. Apparently they've been the invisible hand that guide this planet's working for the last several hundred years" Tim said

"Ok... and Thoice is in it, right?" Sonic asked

"From what i understand, he was the founder of the council about three-hundred years ago... and has remained the most prominent figure within it ever since... but i don't know if that is myth or fact" Tim admitted "But regardless, i'm here to help with your coupe' of this city, as if my good friend Malik, who should be arriving any second now" Tim said, as he took a seat across from the hedgehogs, as if to wait on somebody

"So... Tim" Lightess raised her voice up "What do you know about the council asides from Thoice's presence and your current mission?" she asked, in some way that made it clear to Sonic that she had some ulterior motive

"Well... i also know the supposed outcome of this battle... sorta" Tim admitted as he drew out a manila envelope "Supposedly they wrote that down and sealed it in here... and it has some crazy time-lock magic on it so it won't open until about nine o'clock tonight" Tim said with a laugh

"Weird... wonder why they wouldn't let us see" Sonic said aloud

"I only have this cause i doubted their ability to see events" Tim admitted "So i guess this is their way of proving it, but i think we can't see the results as it might change the future... or something" Tim rationalized

"_I guess so..."_ Sonic admitted in his thoughts, not really able to argue about time paradoxes or anything like that

The door opened and the aquamarine lizard from earlier entered the bar, albeit he seemed happy about something

"Aw Malik, about time you showed up" Tim said, gesturing to a seat next to him "I was just talking to Sonic and the hedgehogs" he laughed

"Cool, i'm just taking care of business in three... two..." Malik said as he looked out the window with a grin on his face "one..." and on queue, an explosion happened outside, leveling the entire building complex that was next to them, sending a shockwave of sheer force through the bar which shook everything like an earthquake

"Nice work Malik, i assume fire stance?" Tim asked

"Well, what else would it be?" he laughed "I'm saving water stance for the raid tonight, cause i'll most likely need it" he admitted with a chuckle

"So... you are like mercenaries or...?" Sonic begun to ask

"Well... in the most lame sense, yes." Tim admitted "But we are far off from them in every way, the only similarity is that we can 'get hired' by the council of time..." Tim started to say

"Basically, we are members of the Councils private army, but we are completely free to do anything we want until the council asks for our help, which is so infrequent that we might as well be mercs in their army" Malik said plainly "Oh, that's right, i haven't introduced myself. I am Malik, the robotically legged squad member for team awesome" he laughed

"Aw, you poor thing. How did you lose your leg?" Amy asked with concern

"Oh this 'ol thing?" Malik said, pointing at the leg "Our good 'ol friend Metal Sonic, up in the tower of fun" he said with venom in his voice "decided to run experiments a few years back... i was in the high-stress trial division, so when it got to be my turn to be bombarded with kinetic radiation and gene-splicing... i sort of ended up with the powers i have now... but i traded a leg in for it" he laughed

"Seems a little cruel" Lightess said, missing the joke

"Well ya see missy, i got my leg stolen when the lab went haywire and dropped a three ton girder on my leg, severing right off there" he said "i had to cauterize my own wound and drag myself to a prosthetic officer to get a new leg... which of course broke shortly there after" Malik said

"Don't you mean you threw it into a junkyard?" Tim chimed in

"It had a tracer in it from that metal maniac, i didn't want to be found... end of story" Malik said with anger in his tone "This current leg is something i picked up through some of my own contacts and i've had it ever since... so... what is that, like three years or something" he thought aloud

"So as you can see Sonic, we are here to help. And don't worry, we were more than enough briefed out you and your companions backstories... well... "Tim admitted "Except for the green one, we know only a little about her, but we were assured we would know what we needed to know, so i'm satisfied" he said, the lie apparent in his face

"And there are reasons for secrets" Lightess chimed in, taking her gun out and preparing proper maintenance on it from the shockwave from earlier

"I suppose" Tim replied taking his own gun for maintenance

"You people and your use of guns" Sonic laughed

"We can't all be super fast hedgehogs with powers from Thoice, now can we?" Malik said with a grin

"Sonic doesn't need Thoice's help to be amazing" Amy said defensively

"It certainly helps though" Malik replied

"I'll admit that" Sonic grinned "So what's your power Malik?" Sonic asked with curiosity

"Wait until tonight, you'll see plenty of it" he answered with a tinge of menace in his voice

"So Tim, i see you have a CZ 75b pistol there, why such an odd gun?" Lightess asked as she was calibrating her weapon

"It was a hand-me down from my brother, so it is kind of sentimental for me" he replied "What is that monstrosity on your end?" he asked

"This is my little baby, and i built her from scratch. I'd say she has my eyes, but that only stands in the scope" she laughed

"My, my, i'm waiting to see what happens tonight with that" he admitted

"Don't think i'm limited to such a weapon" she warned

"I'd never think such" he laughed

"So... what time is it?" Sonic asked, as he was getting antsy for the attack

"About seven thirtyish" Tim said

Sirens were being heard outside as the police force and guards were checking out the destroyed building complex across the bar

"What was the point of that, by the way?" Amy asked, gesturing out the window to the destroyed building

"To bring the guards here, so that we can jump them and have less to fight later" Malik said simply

"Well... we have that covered, as the citizens of Bushill will attack during the festival to give us cover" Sonic said

'HA! like anyone from Bushill will attack, they are like the biggest pansies ever" Malik laughed

"To be fair Sonic, Malik has a point. Bushill citizens have a long streak of avoiding conflict and fighting" Tim said

"But their chief promised me" Sonic replied, not wanting to sell out his friend's oath

"Well i guess we'll find out, won't we?" Malik said with a grin

"It should be during the firework festival" Sonic said simply

"Goodie, that is in a couple minutes" Tim said, sheathing his gun and checking to see if his book was safe

Explosions echoed throughout the bar as the sky become a colorful pageant of colors and shapes

"Guess this is the time to make our move" Malik said, walking to the door

"Wait a second, i want to see if the Bushill people hold their word" Tim said

"They will" Sonic said, refusing to believe otherwise

The fireworks continued to dot the sky with their beauty and sound and there were no signs of a siege.. Sonic was beginning to give up hope

"Sonic, face it, they lied" Tim tried to tell him

"Give them one more minute" Sonic said, praying to whatever he could think of that they come through

"Fine, but then we go with Malik's plan and jump the guards, got it?" Tim asked

"Fair enough" Sonic said, wishing it wouldn't come to that

"About forty seconds passed and giant boulders crashed against the side of the city, causing walls to crumble and buildings to shake

"YES! They are attacking!" Sonic said happily

"I guess you were right, sorry for doubting you" Tim said with a bow "But this doesn't lift our current problem" he said, gesturing to the guards who were walking to the bar

"Then i guess we still get to my plan after all" Malik said with malice

"_I guess so... but i hope this minimizes casualties"_ Sonic thought as the gang rushed from inside the bar to engage the guards in combat, fireworks exploding in the sky and drowning out all screaming and yelling from the fight to take place

* * *

><p><strong>So that wraps that up, the stage is now set for the up-and-coming siege, but unlike Coretin, this one WILL be inherently different, as in the fights and shizzle. I've been busy with things and such for the last two months, but i will REALLY, REALLY, REALLY try to pick up the old flame for writing this that i used to have, as i always feel terrible getting messages from you guys and forced to reply that i haven't worked on this for awhile. You fans are awesome, as always, and i hope to make it up to you<strong>

**Steven 'ZiGeNaToR' Ziegler**


	10. Bloodshed

**Author's note:**

**Ok... i know, it has been awhile. I am really really really sorry. I got caught up in a lot of things, computer problems and so forth. I've been working on my own novel and ... well that has been really painful. Uhm... i've also been attempting to a get a real job (which has panned nothing so far) But damn it all, i finally got around to it and here is the MUCH anticipated Chapter 10 of TMA:F**

**Related note: I really want to thank all my fans for badgering the f*ck out of me to get back to this, i forgot how much fun it was to write this... it'd be nice if i didn't need to be hounded though, but life gets busy, what can i say**

**Enjoy**

**Bloodshed**

* * *

><p>Sonic rushed out of the bar looking at the street for how to engage such a group. He saw a line of rifle men to his left and thought that would seem a good place to start. But as soon as his foot touched the pavement in the direction of them, their bodies hit the floor and blood gushed out of their chests like a fountain, only to stifle and become as still as the corpse could be<p>

"_The flippie was that!?"_ he thought as he panned his vision behind him to see Tim with his pistol drawn, smoke leaving the chamber and an expressionless face as he turned to engage some more of the guards "_Looks like the mercs are alright with murder..."_ he thought, the idea sickening him as he thought about trying to stop them

"_But Sonic, if one of your friend's must die, then shouldn't Metal Sonic and all his followers feel some pre-emptive wrath?"_ a voice chimed in his head

His eyes were bloodshot as he leapt into the air and dove down upon the collarbone of a guard, "You... YOU'RE BACK!?" he yelled at the corpse, his voice covered by gunshot and fireworks

"_You silly fleshie fool, i never left"_ the voice answered back simply "_And it seems you haven't missed me, now that is a shame"_ it mocked him

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Sonic yelled as he used his wind-based powers to effortlessly glide between the streets and through zephyrs of force into his assailants, knocking them unconscious.

"Now that isn't the proper way to treat a friend..." the voice said in a venomous tone

"YOU ARE NOT A FRIEND!" Sonic yelled as he used the wind power to assault his head, throwing himself into a wall, on which he slumped down to the floor and looked around the alleyway dazed and confused

"What...just happened?" he asked himself as he used a cardboard box to help stand up. He looked around at the plethora of bodies around him, horrendously dismembered and violated. The sight of a Fox soldier caught his unwavering glance, and he couldn't tear his gaze away from it.

The kid looked just like Tails did, except for the missing arm (which looked ripped off not too long ago) and the fact the entire body was impaled on a street post. But what caught Sonic's eye was the face of true agony in the kid's face... it...was...

"... Tails?" he asked meekly to the suspended corpse as he fell to his knees "Oh Gaia, i didn't want this... how... HOW COULD I!?" he yelled at the corpse as his vision faded

"Sonic!" Amy yelled at him as she slapped his cheek, the slap echoing in the street

"Er, wha!?" he asked, looking around as he caught everyone's eye looking at him, they all shared some degree of worry

"Finally you are back with us" she sighed with relief

"Was I elsewhere?" he asked

"Well..." Amy begun to say before being cut off

"Look around ya mate, you did all this before we could stop ya" Malik said, as his hand gestured the street

Sonic's eyes traveled from Malik to the street where the strewn assortment of corpses were, and he suddenly remembered what he had done. He panicked and looked for the corpse that he thought was Tails, but to no avail, as it seemed such a sight never existed

"I did..." he said meekly before he coughed and tried saying louder "I did all this?" he asked

"Well... your body did at least, Jury is still out on whether or not it was you" Tim said cryptically

"What does that even mean!?" he asked, his panic getting into his voice

"Well... most of the time you aren't cackling or smiling with murderous glee" Lightess said weakly

"And you never disembowel your enemies" Amy added with a sad tone to her voice

"And i've never seen such blunt hatred for guards before" Malik added comically

"So, all in all, you sort of ... well "Tim said as his hand tapped mindlessly on his book "weren't yourself"

"_That's right Sonic, now behave and kill the general of Hexlipse, or else i'll have to exert some of this raw killing potential on your friends" _the voice said calmly

"Well Tim, you don't have to worry, i guess that was just something to do with a lack of chili dog in my system" Sonic laughed, trying not to sound fake "Well we have a mission to do and... stuff" he said as he begun walking down the street, trying his hardest to act normal

"Wait a sec there partner" Malik said

"_Flickies!"_ he cursed in his head as he turned around

"We are a little worried ya know..." Amy said calmly, trying her best not to freak out. But just watching her try to put on a brave face sent daggers into his heart

"Ames, don't worry. It was probably something to do with Thoice or something, i'm ME now, see?" he said with a smile, a cold sweat breaking out over his face as he prayed to the heavens that nobody could see that

"But..." she said as she wiped a tear away " Even if you are you... can you promise to never be ... 'That' again?" she asked, a whimper in her voice

"_She is legitimately scared of what i was!" _he thought, the daggers in his heart twisted as they dug deeper

"Yes Ames, i can promise to be me and not 'That', forever and ever" he said as he took her hand "Don'tchu trust me?" he asked as he felt a creeping sickness fill his stomach

She looked at him, her eyes staring right through his eyes and after what seemed like hours she finally said "... Yes, i can believe you" as she moved forward and hugged him

"Awww, how touchy feely" Malik mocked as he laughed "Just so ya know blue boy, if that happens again we won't hesitate to stop ya" he warned friendly

"I wouldn't ask it to be any other way" he replied as he took Amy's hand and begun traveling down the street to the center of the city

Screaming took the new medium in the city, as the people ran to the streets yelling and screaming as they mindlessly looked for cover from the boulders being flung into the city. The fireworks kept going off regardless, masking their barely audible screams with an unnatural hue of destruction. Sonic twinged every time he heard the next wave of fireworks mix with the screams, but he reminded himself this is for the greater good

After a couple blocks of peaceful walking, the large estate came within sight. There was a plaque in the front of the building, but it seemed loose and wobbled a little bit. Sonic read it as

"General Izzet"

"well, looks like i know who we are fighting" he laughed as the five of them headed toward the front door

"THAT" a mysterious sound said as a knife landed right where Sonic's foot was about to be "IS FAR ENOUGH!"

He looked up to see three figures dressed in black outfits, almost as if they were crafted out of shadows themselves. It revealed nothing but their approximate size, as for; gender, race or even color... he couldn't tell any ounce of that

"Oh boy, its the Shadow Strikers" Malik said with malice

"And i see an escapee of Metal Sonic's lab rats and a 'Redeemer' down there" one of the three replied, as Sonic couldn't even see their mouths move

"I ain't ever goin' back!" Malik said as he prepared to fight

"I might be the last, but i am not going down without a fight" Tim said calmly as he held his gun against the handle of his blade, prepared for either encounter

"I was hoping you would say that" one of them replied...

"_Or possibly all three"_ Sonic thought

... As they blinked from the rooftop next to Sonic and company

Sonic jumped a step back and Malik took three steps forward

"Calm down, the hedgehogs can pass" the shadowed figures said as they gestured for such

Lightess started to walk around them, preparing herself for some attack. None came, and she was at the door, untouched. Amy followed right after

"You guys need some help?" Sonic asked

"Naw, and deprive me of some revenge?" Malik said with a black chuckle

"We got this Sonic, you go and finish the mission" Tim said professionally

"Alright, but if you aren't with us in five minutes, then i'm coming to get ya" Sonic teased as he ran around the shadows and went into the estate

Once inside, the door not only shut but reinforced itself with several layers of metal, some of which Sonic had never seen before. The windows soon followed suite and it was mighty clear that they were meant to go forward rather than back the way they came

"Well gang..." Sonic begun to say before a fist found his gut

"We are not splitting up!" Amy said angrily

"I was going to suggest we go forward" Sonic winced as he held his gut

"Well hurry it up!" she said as she stormed forward

"...~sigh~" Lightess said as she pinched the bridge of her nose and walked behind her

They traveled down the foyer to see a staircase off to the side, large color distorted squares and rectangles covered the wall showing that portraits used to be hung there. The carpet was a fine rug that had seen better days and the occasional chandelier and wall light adorned the linear path.

"I wonder what kind of pictures used to be there..." Sonic asked open endedly

"Knowing of who lives her, probably something disturbing" Amy replied, keeping her hammer in hand and watching the hallway for any type of battle

"... uhm..." Lightess said meekly but decided to cough and take out her gun and follow Amy's lead

"_Not even your friends our faithful, why should you return the favor?"_ the voice chimed

He ignored the voice and kept his limbs limber in case of an attack

They traveled down a good couple of linear rooms, having nothing to really report, before Sonic started feeling anxious of something weird happening.

"Girls, ya feel like we are supposed to of found someone by now?" he asked

"Ya'd think so, but these people like killing time making you wait and such" Lightess replied with some level of knowing

"But still, we haven't even found a squad roaming around or anything" he said

"Yeah, its a war or patience right now" Lightess claimed calmly

"I agree with Sonic, we should of bumped into someone by now" Amy agreed

And as if on queue, the door ahead of them was kicked down and a squad of black-leather clad soldiers poured out with guns and tactical helmets. They opened fire on the trio of hedgehogs forcing them to dive into the adjacent room else take bullets

"DAMN IT!" Lightess cursed as she peeked out from the room and fired some type of ball from her gun into the hallway. A loud explosion happened seconds later and she then dove into the hallway firing off rounds with no worry

"Lightess!" Amy cried out as she turned the corner with her hammer, the sound of thuds and bones cracking filled the spaces between gunshot as Sonic stayed in the room still processing what just happened

"When i used to invade Eggman's little bunkers, i would fight robots and such with the intent to kill... but it was like a friendly murder rather than a brutal one" he rationalized "but here i am, in a rundown manor, battling enemies who are using lethal firearms in the goal of killing us without even getting to the long-winded world domination speech"

"_The game has changed hedgehog, why can't you accept that?"_ the voice asked with a curious tone

"Because i won't lose any of my friends to such a reality" he said as he clenched his fist in determination

"_Let us see how long that resolve lasts"_ the voice replied as it cackled into the fading remnants of his head

He ran out of the room, half expecting to see his comrades dead, when instead he say a pile of knocked out soldiers kicked up against the walls as Lightess was tinkering with her visor and Amy was wiping the blood off her hammer before they noticed him

"Oh hey Sonic, why didn't you join in for the chaos?" Amy asked calmly

"Got caught up with something" he lied as he strolled into the room, again seeing nothing worth mentioning in the almost empty room

"Ok, according to the floor plan i got ahold of, we only have about three more rooms left until we hit a large room..." Lightess claimed "So, we will leave out of the next door, turn right and walk down the hallway, turn left at the fork in the road and carry on straight to the large room where the general probably is hiding" she said with a half grin

"Sounds easy enough, let us go do that" Sonic said as he opened the next door preparing his comrades to travel down the hallway

When the cold steel barrel of a gun found itself resting against the temple of Sonic, the gun belonging to yet another black-leather clad soldier

The moment that happened, Lightess wiped her gun out and aimed at the soldier, preparing to fire when about three other soldiers took place in the doorway, all aiming their weapons at Sonic

"Lower the gun, or the hedgehog gets it" replied a calm and worry less voice

The girls dropped their weapons to the floor, and looked at the soldiers with murderous intent in their eyes, but if anything was bothering them they kept silent about it

"Obedient, this is acceptable" one of the soldiers replied, as to which one, not even Sonic could tell and he was about a couple feet from any of these four soldiers

"So... what do ya'll want" Sonic said calmly, already channeling the wind-like energy within his body for a daring (and perhaps stupid) escape technique

"You are here to challenge the position of General Izzet, is this correct?" one of the four asked calmly

"And so what if we are?" Amy said indignantly

"Then we are to escort the females to a holding cell and take the male to the arena for battle" the soldiers said, in their eerie yet calm voice

"Well then, take me to your leader" Sonic said in a joking voice, keeping the energy charged and ready for some sort of encounter problem

"Very well, female hedgehogs please come with us" the soldiers asked as the one soldier with the gun to Sonic's head, cocked the weapon to show the seriousness in the order

"Sonic" Amy said as she begun to walk over, weaponless "Kill this general for me" she said with a cold tone before walking out into the hallway with a silent Lightess, behind the three man squad of soldiers to wherever this holding cell was

The soldier detaining Sonic finally put his gun back into his holster and begun walking down the hallway, as Sonic followed with his curiousness piqued

"So... this arena thing, what is going on?" he asked

A silent reponse

"Ok... the general a good employer?" Sonic asked, trying to have some conversation

Again, silence

"Fair enough, don't want to talk badly about your employer, understandable" he said, trying sympathy this time

For a third time, silence filled the hallway with the occasion footstep

"What, can you only talk if there is a squad of you?" Sonic asked out of curiousness

If that was true or not, no such answer was given

"Well fine, can we hurry up so that i can end this little mission?" he asked with his snarky attitude

still a silent answer, but the soldier did start to walk at a much faster pace down the hallway

"_Well, at least it can listen"_ he thought with a grin as he noticed the discolored wall squares and rectangles showing that portraits and other likewise frames used to be there

"So... who used to own this mansion before you guys took over?" he asked, not really expecting an answer this time

He wasn't disappointed, as no answer was given

The soldier stopped in front of a door and proceeded to open said door as he gestured for Sonic to walk inside

"Well thanks for the talk, it was illuminating" he said sarcastically as he walked inside the room

The room was indeed large, much like how Lightess said it would be, it had a dungeon-like quality to it, however

The walls were of stone, there was a lot of vacant space throughout the room and the only 'furniture' to notice was the plethora of weapon racks against the stone walls. Sonic almost felt like he was in some sort of castle, rather than a tech center of the world

At the opposite end of the room was a fox, about the size of him. He had only one tail, and his fur was of a reddish brown. His left ear was tuft and his right ear was mainly missing. He wore an eyepatch over his left eye and a lazily done military outfit.

"So, i take it you're part of the invasion party here to take me out of power, eh?" the character asked as he begun to walk clockwise around the wall of the room

"Yeah, sorry about that, but the landlord explicitly said no late night parties" Sonic joked as he walked counter clockwise around the room, charging a little bit more of his wind power

"Funny, i don't remember that in the lease" he joked back

"So, General Izzet, i presume" Sonic plainly said

"Yes, Sonic the hedgehog" he replied

"How does this go down?" Sonic asked

"Well, typically i ask if you want it the easy way or the hard way" Izzet joked "But i already know your power, so prepare yourself for a fight Sonic"

"The usual, two men enter and only one leaves, kind of deal?" Sonic asked

"Yeah... something like that, the weapons around the room are there to be used, so please, help yourself." he said with a friendly smile "Finally, if three minutes pass, then the room will start filling with a toxic nerve gas. Two minutes later, a fire will be ignited in the room, catching the gas on fire and killing us both." Izzet grinned

"Seems like one hell of an insurance policy" Sonic jested

"Well you know how the boss man is, he wants efficency" Izzet laughed "Between you and me though, i'd like this fight to be done before five minutes pass... else the whole fight is kind of for naught" he said

"Yeah, seems like a waste" Sonic agreed "Well, i'm ready when you are" Sonic said, ready to charge at a moments notice"

"Alright then" Izzet said as he pressed a button on the wall behind him, the ceiling started a large digital clock ticking down from 5:00:00 "May the best man win"

General Izzet grabbed a flail off the wall, and a mace as he leapt at Sonic with intent to kill, the friendly smile still on his face as he seemed more friend than foe

Sonic rolled out of the way and grabbed a sword from the wall, remembering the time he was a knight, and was thankful for such a stupid adventure for taking place

He blinked at high speed, right behind Izzet and swung at his open back. Izzet leapt forward, just missing the blade, and he turned around and threw the mace at Sonic at such a high speed. Sonic raised the blade to block, only to have it shatter against the mace, forcing him to drop the sword and roll out of the way of the mace

Izzet grabbed another mace from the wall and jumped at Sonic again, leaving a crater in the ground as he skyrocketed at Sonic like a meteor

Sonic dove out of the way and slashed his hand against the air in front of him, sending a wave of wind at the fox, like some type of wind-scythe

Izzet swung his mace against the wind and forced it to break against him harmlessly as he laughed "Lovely, you know how to attack from the range, now this won't be so boring" he said as he launched himself at Sonic again, forcing the hedgehog to dodge again

"_Damnit, how do i win this?" _Sonic thought as he looked around the room for some type of edge

Then it clicked to him, "_I have speed on my side, so lets use that as my weapon"_ he grinned as he took a ring out of his pocket

"Bribery won't work Sonic" Izzet laughed

"Don't worry, rings have a different purpose in this arena" Sonic replied as he threw the ring at Izzet

The general prepared his mace to smash the ring out of the way when Sonic used his lightspeed dash to follow up the ring, channeling all the energy he could into his right leg

And at lightspeed, he delivered an axe kick, into the chest of General Izzet, that threw him against the wall with bone-splattering speed

*OOMPH*

Sonic then prepared the attack again, throwing the ring above where Izzet landed, and blinking towards it at lightspeed for another highspeed axe dick over his head, before kicking off the wall and back to the center of the room

"Not bad, not bad at all" Izzet said as he coughed up blood "You got a few of my ribs here, and i don't think i'll be sitting comfortably anytime soon" he joked

"You really are something, you know that?" Sonic said, as he channeled some more energy up for a different highspeed approach

Izzet threw his weapons to the ground and ran up against a nearby rack of weapons where he grabbed everything he could get his hands on and threw them at high speed at Sonic. Soon blades and blunt weapons alike were finding their way at Sonic.

It took everything Sonic had to dodge the flurry of weapons, thrown at such a speed that he knew he would be dead if even one hit, whilst still channeling the wind energy

When Izzet ran out of weapons, he rolled to the next one and begun the cycle again. This repeated a good four times, with Sonic being clipped a few times from the high speed barrage, and Izzet showing no signs of fatigue

"_If this keeps up, i'm going to die from this barrage before even the poison gas comes" _Sonic thought with a tinge of black humor

"Hey Sonic, its been three minutes, feeling the poison seeping in yet?" Izzet chimed in

On that note, Sonic could start feeling his muscles becoming weaker and his response time starting to fade. Izzet's high speed attacks started to slow down a bit, as well as his aim starting going to heck

"I don't know what you are talking about, you can't even throw in a straight line" he joked back

"Yeah... this poison will do that, and by about a minute in a half in, you'll feel like dying... thankfully, you happen to die only thirty seconds after that" he laughed with a wheeze as he doubled over to cough up a torrent of blood

"_Well, i won't get a better moment than this"_ Sonic thought as he released all the energy he had, causing time itself to feel warped and diluted, as it seemed Izzet was coughing in slow motion. Sonic rushed at the weakened enemy and circled around him, landing a flurry of punches and dicks and wind-based slices as he completed each rotation around the weakened target

After only about seventy rotations, he couldn't hold up the energy anymore, so he dispersed the power and time snapped back to it's original status and Izzet felt the full barrage of the assault in a matter of a second

He coughed up blood once more, fell to the ground, and (presumably) died

"Now... that... wasn't... too... hard" Sonic said with wheezes between words, as the mixture of poison and fatigue took his body over, he looked up to see the time read 00:34:21 and to of stopped right there. A mixture of relief and fatigue swept over him as he slumped against the wall next to the fallen General Izzet

"In any other reality, i have a feeling we could of been friends Izzet" Sonic said next to the corpse "But it wasn't this one unfortunately... and i'm sorry for what had to happen" he said, his body slowly starting to feel better

"_And that only adds to the body count you've committed tonight"_ the voice chimed in

"I hope the girls are alright" Sonic said, ignoring the voice

"_I wouldn't be so certain..."_ the fading voice said before it left

And with that note, he ran down the hallway, back to the room where he was face to face with that pistol, and ran down the opposite corridor to begin a hunt for the girls

He passed each room with a glance, hoping to see some indication that someone was there, and was disappointed each time. A good couple of minutes passed before he finally saw something hopeful. At the end of the hall was a room with two guards posted out in front of a door

"Well... that is something good" he said to himself, holding his wounded chest as he prepared himself for combat

The door was kicked down and a familiar face charged out of the broken door frame, quickly shooting the guard to his right, and stabbing the one to his left through the head. The corpses fell limply to the ground and a worn, tired and bloody Tim Hughes stood in the door frame, panting as Malik walked out of the room

"Oh, heya Sonic, how went the mission?" Malik asked from across the hallway

Sonic started to walk towards them, his body finally registering just how injured it was "The general is dead, but he sure as heck did a number on me"

"Yeah, ya look like hell" Malik said with a smirk, his body looking almost fluid with ripples of water "Tim here took his fair share of loving, so don't feel alone"

"Yeah, what happened to ya Tim?" Sonic asked as he leaned against the wall to catch a breather

"Well, those damn Shadow Strikers really kept to their name, as they darted from the shadows to land a cut on me every now-and-then" he said with a tone of hate "Well, after a few minutes of that, i was pretty damn cut up and wounded, but it seemed i managed to hold their attention pretty damn well, because none of them noticed that Malik left the fight to prepare for an ambush on them"

"Yep, as soon as Tim was blooded up, the Strikers seemed ready for the kill, so they all charged him normally" Malik said "Then i jumped on them for the engage, and in a matter of second, i had three corpses at my feet" he laughed

"Well, i'm glad that worked out so damn well for you guys" Sonic said tiredly "But, i had to give up the girls to go fight the general... so i've been looking for whatever holding cell they were taking to for about the last three minutes" Sonic said plainly "Care to help?"

"I got nothing better to do, but i think Tim needs to sit this one out" Malik said bluntly

"Yeah... nothing personal Sonic, but i don't think i can even properly stand straight, the adrenaline i pumped into myself earlier is wearing off so i'm next to dead now" he laughed

"Unfortunately, i know the feeling far too well" Sonic morbidly agreed "As Izzet thought it'd be fun to fight in a room full of toxic nerve gas"

"Lucky you" Malik said as Tim turned back into the room and sat down on a chair, wheezing as he limped over "Let's get a move on, a rolling stone gathers no moss"

And with that stupid saying, Malik and Sonic walked down the hallway and split at the path, with Sonic going right to Malik's taking of the left

"I sure hope i can find them sooner than later" he said to himself, just wanting to hear something other than the quietness of the hallway

He managed down quite a few of the rooms, having nothing but the discolored walls and torn fabric of the floor as company, before finally finding a room with a pair of guards in front of it. This time, he didn't even ask questions as he threw a ring over towards them, and blinked to the ring to land a quick spinning kick that knocked the two soldiers to the nearby wall, where they fell and stayed

"And to think, i wouldn't of learned that if i didn't fight Izzet" Sonic said, admiring his new technique

He opened the door to find a familiar figure sitting down in a leather chair, talking to two girls sitting in similar chairs across from him

"...And then Sonic opens the door" he said with a small laugh to himself "Please, join us, won't you?" he asked

"Fair enough" Sonic replied as he sat in the empty chair between the girls

The light grey hedgehog looked back at him, his red~ish eyes looking right into Sonic's emerald green eyes, and the unmistakable trench coat covering him up. The only thing missing this time was the scythe, but Sonic felt that the weapon wasn't far away

"So Sonic, i was just talking to your comrades here, and it turns out they are pretty interesting, especially this green one" he laughed "Your girlfriend however, we don't exactly see eye-to-eye, as it were"

"That is because your evil!" Amy said loudly, as if she had explained this several times now

"Evil is only a matter of context, when you really think about it" the man replied "But Thoice was determined, for whatever reason, to prove that i wasn't evil but only self-serving... a thing most people don't really see a difference in" he laughed

"Why bring up Thoice?" Sonic asked

"Why indeed, he doesn't really matter right now, does he?" he man replied "I only brought him up cause i was reminded about a fun memory i had... shame me and him aren't particularly on the best of terms right now"

"What happened?" Lightess asked, unable to stop her curiosity

"Well... he wanted me to help in this whole Metal Sonic fiasco, and i wanted to kill a particular individual who i found out has resurfaced, and our interests clashed. Then after he logically explains his argument, and even agrees to help me with my vengeance, i was ordered by my superior officer to kill Thoice... sooooo" he said with a grin

"i highly doubt you could, or did" Sonic said smugly

"You'd be right, but don't delude yourself, i tried with everything in my power to. The two of us have been pretty damn equal when it comes to power for as long as i remember... so he really is the only person i know whom i can't kill..." the man said

"Wow... you tried to kill your friend, because you were ordered to? And you wonder why i don't like you" Amy said

"Actually, he would probably more along the lines of my best friend, as well as my largest rival. And yes little lady, you see, where i come from, orders i get are long term goals. So even if something doesn't make sense when i get it, i can't argue with them. It is something harder to explain than you'd be able to understand, just understand that emotions and work don't mix"

"Be that as it may, why are you here now?" Sonic asked

"Well, because I, the beloved and all powerful Theo Arcreus have now personally taken an interest in seeing how this little escapade carries out, despite whatever it was Thoice told me back then" he said smugly

"And what if we don't want your help?" Sonic asked

"Oh? Help? Don't make me laugh" Theo said with a grin "Who didn't say that i was hired from the opposite team?" he asked

"_Damn, he's right! How can i trust him?"_ Sonic thought as he felt his body ache

"Well, if you were, wouldn't you have taken us out already, as you have the advantage" Lightess said calmly

"And see, this is why i don't like people like you, trained to be logical at all times... it annoys me" Theo said as he rapped his knuckles against the chair's arm "Namely cause it reminds me of my past"

"Well... then ... what happens now?" Sonic asked tentaively

"Oh, very good question... very good indeed." Theo said as tendrils of shadow sprouted from the room and held the down Sonic's arms and legs to the chair, he looked to see the same happen to Amy and Lightess "But you are REALLY going to hate the answer" he said as a scythe came from the shadows and landed into his hand

"Whoa there, what are you doing!" Sonic cried out

"Did you know that anger is perhaps one of the strongest forces out there in the world... i mean, yes the power of love and stuff is all great... but love becomes more powerful when dipped in the ooze of anger and revenge..." Theo said mindlessly as he polished his blade "Why do you think a lot of the old heroes of this world had a deceased love they spent their life atoning for?" he asked

"WAIT A SECOND, THOICE HATED THAT EXISTENCE" Amy yelled out

"Funny thing about that, even though we differ on that thought, we both can't argue with the results." Theo said as a shadow covered Amy's mouth "He may of hated every day of his life after being thrown to his death, but he spend his life trying to find answers about his one true love and this caused him to hone his skills and turned him into the unwieldy power he is today"

"Still, he leads a tortured life" Lightess said

"Aye, but look at how much power he has" Theo said enviously "I wish the two of us could have more missions together, just so i can watch that power unfold itself again" Theo said hungrily

"But that is just a fluke, he would have attained that power regardless!" Sonic said

"Would he?" Theo asked "Tell me, do you know his power? Do you know what he gave up? Do you know just how tortured his life is, and that his very existence is a curse and he is hunted throughout time for being what he is?" Theo asked as he leaned forward to Sonic, so he could see his reaction

"No, and i don't need to" Sonic said calmly "He is my friend, and i trust him to the ends of Mobius"

"Thought you'd say something like this..." Theo said "Well... Now i know Thoice's strategy won't work" Theo said with a gleeful grin

"Wait... what strategy?" Lightess asked

"The one in which i tell Sonic how he could attain more power and leave it to Sonic to find a way to tap into the power and break these shadows holding you down" Theo said calmly

"_Wait... can i?"_ Sonic thought as he used his energy to try slashing the shadows away, to no avail

"See, he is far too weak to deal with the big leaguers" Theo said with a grin "So this means i get to use my methods, and ... and are you going to hate me for this"

"WAIT! What are you going to do!?" Sonic cried out

"Just watch and learn" Theo said as he brought his scythe up, and prepared to swing it

He brought down the blade, Sonic closed his eyes in fear, he swung through Sonic harmlessly, but it caught something and sliced it off with a meaty sound filling the room

Sonic opened his eyes, curious to what that could've been

He saw a pink head on the floor, a trail of blood leading its way up the wall, coming around to the chair...

Where he saw... a dismembered hedgehog, whose fur was pink

Blood sprouted from the missing apendage

Sonic felt sick, as he wished he could turn away, but was unable to even blink as he was frozen with fear

"There we go, that outta do it" Theo said as he cleaned his blade off, and stop crying, these things happen, dontchu know miss rational"

"But... but..." Lightess said, as she kept coughing to the torrent of tears rolling down her face

"...why?" Sonic said meekly as he looked at the headless body of the girl he loved

"Why indeed?" Theo asked "Like i said, your love needs to be tinged in the black realm of hate and anger. It ain't a beautiful life... but power comes from somewhere, hopefully you understand this ain't personal"

"...personal?" Sonic whispered "YOU BET IT'S PERSONAL! I'LL KILL YOU!" Sonic yelled as a torrent of uncontrollable power flowed through him

"There we go, about time you start getting serious about this" Theo said smugly as he sliced through the air behind him, creating some type of portal

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOUR GOING!?" Sonic yelled in bloodlust, as he forcibly tore his arms against the shadows holding him down, feeling them give

"I have no reason to stay, you are still too weak" Theo said "But you are on the right path, so get angrier and hunt me down, i'll be looking forward to it" he said as he stepped through the portal, which closed behind him, leaving an empty room behind him

"GET BACK HERE!" Sonic yelled as he used the wind power to tear the shadows off of him and he clawed at where the portal was, hoping to force it back open

"Sonic... please... calm down" Lightess said timidly "Think about this rationally"

"RATIONAL!?" he yelled "AMY IS DEAD!"

"Yes, but think calmly, you might be able to save her" Lightess said as the visor covered her head

"SAVE HER!? HER HEAD IS OFF!" he yelled as he tore the chair Theo was on to shreds

"Yes... but can't you bend time?" she asked

"YES!" he yelled at the ceiling "But for what good?"

"Well... in your overpowered state, maybe you can wind time?" she said skeptically

"And get Amy back!" he said singlemindedly

"_Oh, the big boy is going to try to wind time, eh? Going to need my help there buddy" _the voice said in his head

"I DON'T NEED YOU!" he yelled at the voice

"_Actually you do, i happen to be your limiter" _the voice said smugly

"I DON'T NEED YOU, GO AWAY!" he Sonic yelled as he used his energy to channel against time, as he felt the world slow to a stop

"_Oh, and you are so close... if only you had more energy"_ the voice said happily

"YOUR HELP ISN'T NEEDED!"he yelled at the voice as he spent all the energy he had into this time power, slowly feeling time winding back

"_My, this is impressive, but you won't make it without my help"_ the voice laughed

"DAMN IT, GIVE ME MY ENERGY, I WON'T LOSE HER AGAIN!"Sonic yelled in desperation as he felt the winding slowing down

"_And what's in it for me? You treat me like dirt already"_ the voice said indignantly

"ANYTHING! JUST HELP!" Sonic screamed, tears rolling down his face as he felt time heading back to a standstill "I... I just don't want to lose her again..." he cried as he continued to pour the energy in, trying to wind time back more

"_Fair enough, but you owe me one"_ the voice said as it faded away and a reservoir of new found power flowed through Sonic

"YES! HANG ON AMES!" he yelled as he poured everything into this power

Time started to wind itself back faster, only on Amy's person. The blood rushed back into the dismembered head, as it lifted itself off the floor and spun back on top of her shoulders, where it fixed itself.

"_And a little more for good measure"_ he thought as he wound back a little more, watching her eyes bounce around the room in fear and finally look right at where he was standing with a look of endearing love on them before he stopped the flow

He fell on his back, unable to even move after pouring through so much of his power, but he felt accomplished for saving Amy's life... after she died right in front of him

"...Sonic..." Lightess said, as she was still held down by the shadows

"...yes" he managed

"Congratulations" she said with tears streaming down her face

"...it" he said as he coughed "was nothing" he tried to smugly say

"SONIC! Are you alright?" Amy cried out as she got up from the chair, the shadows having left her as Theo say no reason to hold shadows on a dead girl

She cradled his head up on her lap as she looked down at him with an affectionate gaze

"Oh... hey Ames" he said calmly, the memory of her head on the floor haunting his thoughts as he looked at her, feeling like her head will fall off at any moment now

"You looked so damn tired, what happened with Theo and such?" she asked innocently

"Well... he had something to do" Sonic lied, telling himself he would keep this a secret forever

"What a weird guy... i wonder why Thoice can associate with him" she said as she petted his head

"_I'll be sure to ask next time i see him"_ Sonic thought venomously, as murderous intent rose in his thoughts

"... guys..." Lightess said as she was still held down by the shadows "Can we free me?" she asked

"Give me a second" Sonic said, as he felt the room quiver with his fatigue

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the manor, the sign saying 'General Izzet' fell, and the original text stood out

"Manor Ocelot"

* * *

><p><strong>Ok... damn that got messy, didn't it? Maybe i went to far, let me know via PM or something. I have an 'alternative' version for how "That" scene plays out... but i think this one fits better in where we are going. I really wanted to test a couple elements throughout the chapter, and i'm happy to the O.C.'s i got to work with ...Lightess, Malik, Tim and Theo are all fun guys (In fact, Theo is the perfectly fun O.C. to have showing up every now and then, but don't tell DarkSideOfTheMoon19 i said that)<strong>

**Anyways, i got more on the way... in case you didn't already know, this particular segment is suppose to make it to 25 chps... ~sigh~ that is going to be painful**

**Shoot me some love and reviews... or heck, criticism. On that note, as i may always be accepting O.C.s, i have a theme going on so expect any O.C.'s being submitted as of now to have a small amount of screen time until i get a chance to really have fun with them. Its just i've gotten to the point where my 'cast' is getting so big, that i'm having a harder and harder time writing about the adventure Sonic and Amy are on**

**And with that, i'm gone. I am tempting with setting up a Tumblr with a way for you people to spam the f*ck out of me, and see each other's ideas so that WE can all see the freedom of Mobius together... so tell me what you think of that later**

**With warm regards,**

**Steven 'ZiGeNaToR' Ziegler**


	11. A break from our original programming

**Author's note:**

**Well... ~sigh~ i have been busy... true. But i do need to work on doing this better. This is a sort of... Filler chapter. In a sense. it'll tie in later... trust me. But ... well... maybe it'll make sense to read it. Again, you fans are BY FAR the best in the world. i don't know what drives you to love what i write, but i can honestly say that reading your Emails of fanboy/girl addiction warms my day up. As i pen this down (Chapter and all) the day is 10/24/2012, and i am currently fighting a head cold. But i read the work of a dear friend of mine (DarkSideOfTheMoon19) and he inspired me to get back to writing, so in one afternoon i give you THIS to read. please enjoy, and comments are always nice.**

**Original Characters... they make a show here. The three of them given to me by Ultrabot Ultimus The Hedgehog, go thank him if you like those characters, or that other dozen + he has given me over the writing of these stories. I am hell of keen of adding your characters in, just send me what you have, and we can talk. **

* * *

><p><strong>A break from our original programming <strong>

The sun blinded the small fox boy in his laboratory, as he had fallen asleep on his desk for the upteen-milliononth time now. His groggy hand moved to shield his eyes from the constant stream of sunlight, but to no avail. He had been awoken now, and having realized in his conscious form just how uncomfortable this position happened to be, he got up and quickly stretched (much like how a cat would)

"I ~Yawn~ wonder how Sonic is doing?" he asked the metal desk, not expecting an answer to his open question

"I'm sure Mr. Sonic is doing just fine" came a familiar voice from the entrance to his garage. Anyone living even remotely near Station Square would know the voice of Cream, if not just her mannerisms. She really was an oddity in the sense of her formal dialogue.

"Yeah... you're probably right" he admitted to the rabbit as he walked over to greet her with their ever normal hugs "I just think it is weird that he went off on a mission without us... er... me, for once" he said, slightly embarrassed by his own statement

"I wouldn't worry about that Tails, I'm sure Sonic would've loved to bring you along if he could... but something probably came up to prevent that from working" she said in his defense "And think of it this way, now you can spend the time you would've had adventuring with Sonic on making better gadgets to help him defeat the mean Metal Sonic once and for all"

"True... but still. I really do miss running around with him, and foiling Eggman's plans" he said nostalgically

"But that was with Eggman, Tails" she said with a laugh as she held his arm "This time it is Metal Sonic, and i think Amy has waited long enough to go on an adventure with Sonic"

"Yeah... i guess. She sure is lucky being able to adventure with him, ever since she got all that speed" he said, as his eyes drew to his desk where he had his notebook full of ideas on how she gained her speed

"Well, it is of no matter" Cream said in her friend's defense "Now go get showered, you promised you'd take me on a date today" she said with an accompanied girly gigle of joy

"Oh ..." he said absent-mindedly as his eyes drifted from the notebook back to her, and the weight of her words finally hit "OH YEAH! sorry Cream, i'll go do that right now!" he said with new found energy as he bolted out of the garage and into the house

"Oh that Tails, if he didn't have his head attached, he'd probably lose it" Cream said with a laugh as she looked around his workshop with curious eyes

**Meanwhile**, a rather grumpy guardian was waking up under the translucent glow of emerald green with his back rested on nice hard stone. He rolled up and stretched his back and flexed his strong arms a little bit, trying to keep his body light and spry

He looked up out towards Station Square with curious eyes, always curious what the normal people do on normal days. He walked to the nearby stream and got a quick drink of water by cupping his hands into the water. In the back of his head he was reminded that Tails offered to invent some gadgets to make modern life easier on him. He turned the two tailed fox boy down, time and time again. Eventually he caved on having a two way form of communication, hence this artificial tree near his shrine.

He could talk to the tree if he wanted to, or he could hold the button down on it's front and talk to Tail's lab. He really didn't have any particular need of it, but it did give him some peace of mind, not that he'd ever admit that.

He glanced off over to the city once more, as he was doing some early morning curls when the emerald shone an unusual brightness, as it rarely does. He sprung up from his laid back position and ran to the emerald to see what was pre-ordained

Images flashed through the emerald at blinding speed, giving the echidna vertigo. He fell to his knees, still having his gaze affixed to the green emerald. He knew it was his job to know everything that came through the emerald at this point, and if it was needed, he would inform whomever he must. It was his job... his only job

***BEEP* *HONK***

** "**GET OUT OF THE WAY YOU STUPID BEATNIK!" yelled the cab driver to some absent minded tourist. The red and blue robin jumped out of traffic and into a yellow and accented brown seagull's arms, out of fright. She wasn't used to cities, and she was personally upset with herself being unable to acclimate as quickly as she wanted.

"Whoa dear, you almost made me drop the camera" he laughed in his warm voice as he patted her back calmly, as it soothed her down

"Sorry Ben, you know how quickly i get worked up... those taxis... i didn't think they'd be so aggressive" she said with a weak laugh

"Well, why were you in the road May?" he asked innocently as he repositioned the camera on his shoulder to the ground, as it was starting to weigh too much.

"Well... i know this will sound stupid ("As if it never does)" she said as Ben interjected quietly "But i could've sworn i saw a brilliant green light shoot into the sky from over there" she said as she pointed off towards Angel Island

"It was probably just some car reflecting off a cloud or something" he said reassuringly, as neither knew of Angel Island's existance

"Probably... all well. We are here on a mission, remember that dear" she said happily as she regained her composure and quickly walked up to the newsstand to ask the person behind the stand for directions

"Remember Ben, you love her cause she keeps things interesting" he told himself with a sigh as he grabbed the camera and walked up to his bethrothed

***Bzzt***

"Is this honestly the best i can do?" said the hedgehog with anger as he kicked the broken radio with his destroyed shoes. He had been trying for the last couple of weeks, lazily at first but now more fervently, to repair this radio. On his first look, the radio seemed working... but something was wrong with it's reciever. He had been toying around with it for sometime, but to no avail. Now it had become his personal mission to fix it

"Nothing is going to get fixed on an empty stomach" he said with a laugh as he walked in through the backdoor of a local establishment that he knew

"YO! Venom is in for his shift" said the energetic bee

"Gosh damn Charmy, i would pay good money to have you whacked" Venom said with a grin, as this type of banter was one of the few things he looked forward to each day

"So, how goes that radio?" the bee asked while doing mindless loops in the air

"Broke, same as always" the hedgehog said with deceptive grin

"WELL!" came a loud voice as the being transitioned between rooms "I happen to know a guy great with gadgets" said the crocodile

"And as i've said a bajillion times Vector, i don't need no stink'n help" the hedgehog said with a venomous tone that was true to his name

"Well... i'd at least ask the kid what he would even do with the radio" came the collective voice from the guy leaning on the wall behind him, careless as ever

"Kid? Espio, what kind of kid knows how to repair radios?" Venom asked with a sour laugh

"Whoa, don't diss Tails man, that kid has an unnatural knack for fixing things" Vector said

"Tails... why ... why does that ring a bell?" the hedgehog pondered outloud

"No idea, but you can ponder after your shift" the crocodile said with a hearty laugh "the uniform is in the back, change quickly and meet Espio in the kitchen. You are on appetizers today kid"

"Yeah, whatever boss" he replied with a grin

***Shower off***

"You know... sometimes i think that programming my shower to talk might be a little creepy... but it is kind of cool" Tails said with a laugh as he grabbed a nearby towel off the heated rack. "~Oh~ yeah" he moaned in ecstasy as the warm towel touched his fur

"TAILS! How much longer?" Cream asked from the living room

"_Oh yeah, Cream and our date!"_ his mind panicked as he quickly dried off and grabbed a pair of shorts from the drawer. In those pockets, he put his communicator for Knuckles in there, and some odd gadgets that he may or may not need, but are nice to have

"Coming Cream!" he called out into the hallway, as he flew down the stairs

"You took so long i was half tempted to do what Mr. Sonic does, and play some video game" she said with a laugh

Tails looked at the console longingly and imagined Sonic sitting on the adjacent couch, and a little wetness came to his eye "Yeah... that is what he would do" he said with a forced laugh

"Don't worry Tails, I am sure Mr. Sonic has had an easy adventure so far, and is looking forward to telling you all about it" she said with such assurance in her voice

"Yeah... probably." he agreed half-heartedly "All well, time for our date" he said upbeat

"YAY" she cheered as Cheese woke up in her purse and flew around her lazily

"Oh that's right... where did my chao get off to" he wondered to himself as he looked in the lab. "Miles! Where are you?" he called out

A little chao flew out from the tornado's motor and waved at Tails

"Miles... were you working on the Tornado, again?" Tails said with a laugh

The chao nodded and then flew over to him and landed in on his open hand

"Well, we have a date with Cream today, so i expect you to keep Cheese occupied as a friend" he told his chao

The small being nodded in agreeance and begun to fly behind him with his two little wings and his own two tails. "_Sonic did tell me that the chao can mimic their owner... i never thought he meant it so literally"_ he thought to himself as he got back to the main room

"Awww, there he is" Cream said with affection as he saw Miles "That chao only gets cuter and cuter each time i see him"

"Yeah... i caught him working on the tornado again" he said sheepishly "And before you ask, it was of his own accord. The little tinkerer just likes to invent and such, i can't stop him" he laughed

"Well, like owner, like chao" she laughed "Let's get going, i want to enjoy the park before it gets super busy" she said as she tugged on his arm

"Alright, alright, alright already" he laughed "I'm going, let me just lock up" he said as he opened a concealed panel on the front of his house and typed in a special combination.

The house then hummed loudly as the doors and windows became reinforced with steel and the garage closed.

"There, now for our date" he said as he took her arm in his

***Splash***

"Oh my!" May cried out as her coffee splashed all over the ground as she tripped over the step in the pavement

"You ok there dear?" Ben asked

"Yeah... they should really repave all this" she said indignantly

"I'll let them know right away" he said sarcastically "So, how much longer till we are at the famed Sonic the Hedgehog's residence?" he asked

"According to the directions i got, he is on the top floor of that building right there" she said, as she pointed to a very tall building

"The top? Really?" he asked

"I triple checked, and yeah. apparently he gets the penthouse treatment for being a hero in this city"

"That is ... pretty sweet actually" he said in admiration "You think he'll let us interview him?" he asked

"And why wouldn't he?" she said with fire in her eyes "We are beyond amazing reporters, he would be HONORED to be interviewed by us."

"Whatever you say dear" he sighed, as he fiery attitude was something he was far too used to

The entered the plaza, and soon the building. She pressed the 'S' button on the top of the elevator, which she assumed meant 'Sonic'.

She was correct, and in a matter of a couple of minutes they arrived at the top of the elevator, and the door slid open. In front of them was a pretty normal door, with Sonic's name on the nameplate.

"Well... you ready Ben?" she asked, trying to hide her nervousness, as she knew letting on that she was nervous would only give Ben something to use against her

"Yeah, how about you doll?" he asked, calm and collective as ever

"Y-y-yeah." she managed "Well, here goes nothing" she said as she rung the doorbell

A couple of moments passed, and she rung the bell again. And again... and again... and again

"Uhm... Dear..." Ben said cautiously

"Yes?" she said with a tinge of anger in her voice

"Maybe he isn't home" he said

"Yeah... maybe he isn't" she agreed "Not like we traveled all this way to interview him or anything"

"Calm down, ok?" he said carefully "we can ask around and see where he is, maybe he is out training. think how much more awesome that interview would be?" he said

She closed her eyes and imagined selling **Sonic's Extreme Workout** and she was swimming in a pile of rings and dollars, "Yeah... let's go find him" she agreed as she opened the nearby window

"Really dear?" he asked

"What? I'm not taking the three hour elevator ride" she said as she jumped out the window and opened her wings to glide

"This woman" he mumbled to himself as he jumped out after her

During their descent, they saw a small workshop out on the beach, and it had a two tailed fox leaving.

"Honey, isn't Sonic's best friend a two-tailed fox?" she asked Ben

"Here, let me check" he said as he took out some papers from his vest, and carefully read them as he kept his arms out for gliding "Yeah, apparently his name is 'Tails'... mighty unoriginal" he said

"Well... look over there" she said, as she gestured with her wings "I think that's him... he'll know what and wear Sonic is" she smiled

"After you then" he submitted

***Szzzh***

"Damn this grill gets me every time!" Venom cried out "Who ever thought of putting oil on a flame, TO COOK!?"

"Stop whining and get those stir fry vegetables done" Espio replied over the flame

"Stupid rush hour, am i right?" Venom said with a laugh

The two of them mindlessly worked on preparing the food, Charmy kept coming back every so often to grab the plates and Vector was either behind the counter or being a waiter. It wasn't easy work, nor did it particularly pay well... but it was a fun job for all of them.

Hours passed, and the rush finally died out. But above all else, Venom's shift was nearing the end, and he was counting down the minutes to when he'd be able to leave and go interrogate this fox boy into helping him to figure out what is wrong with this radio.

"Alright, alright, alright" Vector said "That, was one helluva day, amiright?" he laughed

"You're telling me boss" Charmy said as he didn't have the energy to flutter right now and happened to be sitting on a stool

"Yeah... it never gets that busy... i wonder what did it?" Espio pondered aloud

"Oh... that was me" Vector said "I added to the front of the store that this is 'Sonic's favorite joint', and he signed that forever ago... i didn't know people would be so inclined to come here after seeing that in the window" the crocodile laughed past his tiredness

"So... this could become 'the norm'?" Venom asked

"Sadly... yes" Vector said "I might need to hire another hand..." he pondered to himself as he started to walk back to the accounting room

"Well... my shift is over, i'll catch you guys on the flip side" Venom said as he hung his uniform up and dashed out of the building into the setting sunlight

***Achoo!***

"Bless you Tails" Cream said as she laughed

"Yeah... thanks, sorry about that" he said "Someone must be talking about me"

"You believe that Tails?" Cream said as they walked through the park, it had been a good half hour since they got here, and not once have they stopped their mindless chatter

"Not really... it was just something Sonic said a lot, so i guess i caught it through him" he laughed

"Well Amy loved to believe in that, she believe that every time she sneeze, Sonic was talking about her." Cream said with a laugh

"Well that does sound like her" Tails admitted

"You find it funny Tails?" she begun to ask

"Find what funny?" he replied

"That for this entire walk we have been talking about either Sonic or Amy... like... they are gone forever or something." she said slowly

"Well... we know that isn't true, but yeah... we have been talking about them a lot" he admitted

"Maybe we have just gotten so used to them in our lives, that not having them makes us feel hollow" she said

"Maybe... but as long as i'm with you, i won't mind that much" Tails said with a smile

"And me, to you" she replied, to which Cheese flew around her "Oh, and Cheese and Miles" she laughed

"Can't forget them even if we wanted to" he agreed

"I swear they would be over here!" came a female voice down the path

"Whatever you say dear" replied a male voice

"I wonder what their hurry is?" Cream asked openly

"No idea, weird how people always seem to be in a hurry. I mean, look at Sonic. Fastest guy around, and perhaps the most lazy. He takes life slow and peacefully, despite how fast he can go" Tails said

"He really is like a mentor in his lifestyle, isn't he?" Cream asked

"I'd say so" he replied

"Oh, there he is! FOUND HIM" the female voice echoed

"Coming dear" the male replied, the sound of branches breaking echoed with him

A blue robin with red accents came into view, with a yellow and brown accented seagull behind her. They walked right up to Tails and Cream.

"Heya, you must be Tails, right?" she asked

"Uhm... yes..." he replied nervously

"GREAT!" she said energetically "I've been looking for you ever since we found out Sonic isn't home" she said, as she ruffled through her shirt for some papers

"Oh... well" he started to say, before being interrupted

"So be a pal and tell me where Sonic is, won't ya?" she asked

"Well... he isn't in Station Square..." he started to say, before being interrupted again

"WHAT!?" she cried out in anguish "We traveled all this way for nothing!?" she asked the sky

"Dear, calm down, you're scaring the kids" the seagull chimed in

"You are right, right, right!" she said, reassuring herself "I am May Kary Young, and this is my associate Ben Phozo" she said, introducing the two of them in one sweep

"But he called you 'dear'..." Cream said quietly

"Well, i'm Tails and this is Cream" he introduced them back "But Sonic isn't here, at all right now." he said

"And where might he be?" May asked

"We don't even know" Tails replied "He left with Amy awhile ago, and the two of them are out trying to fight for Mobius's freedom" the fox replied

"He left with Amy you say, Ben pull up her file" she said, to which he handed her a piece of paper "Let's see here, girl, hedgehog, a couple of years younger... pretty cute... oh, here we go. It's a love angle Ben" she said giddily "So Sonic left on a honeymoon you said, that is all the more reason to interview him!" she said with newfound fire

"Uhm... i didn't..." Tails meekly tried to say

"I just need to know where he is, and surely you, HIS BEST FRIEND, would know that" she said

"We don't know, i'm sorry" Tails said one last time

"Dang... well anyone that would?" May asked

"Yes... but you'll never find him" Tails replied simply

"Try me, who is he?" she asked, her notepad out and ready for notes

"Thoice Ocelot" Tails replied simply

***Clang***

"Who's idea was it to put a sign post there!" Venom cried out as he bashed his arm into it as he ran down to the beach

He had the radio in his backpack, as he was hell bent on fixing this thing. Why... he wasn't particularly sure. It started as a hobby... and moved into something more.

"But this fox kid might be able to help... and then i'll have this radio working... then..." he said between pants as he jogged down to the beach "Well... i don't know. but life will make sense when it needs ... to"

A guilt ridden pang festered in his mind, as he thought of his parents... and maybe... "Just maybe... this radio can help me find them" he said hopefully, wishing to rather die than have someone find out his ulterior motive

Soon he was jogging past a park when he heard some loud girl ranting something about Sonic and love... he was going to run past it, when he remembered that Sonic had a best friend... Tails. Tails is the person he is going to go see, so maybe this person knows where this fox kid is.

After rationalizing it as such, he ran into the park looking for the source of this voice

***Snap***

"Come on kid, smile. You're getting your pictures done for the up-and-coming biography of Sonic the Hedgehog. So you better bet that we'll need plenty of side interviews of all his close friends and such" May said devilishly as her camera kept snapping pictures of Tails and Cream, who were clearly not enjoying themselves

"May... maybe the kids don't like having their pictures taken" Ben chimed in

"Oh nonsense, all kids love having their pictures taken" she said happily

"May, just put down the camera and let these two continue their walk in the park" Ben said

"Oh... maybe you are right" she sighed "This isn't going to help Sonic to show up, or this Thoice fellow"

"If you want though, i can show you what we've scrapbooked from his adventures back at my workshop" Tails said, wanting to help out Ben here with this crazy girl he is with

"That's be swell kid, thanks a million" May said happily

"Are you sure this won't be intruding on your day with her?" Ben asked, gesturing between Tails and Cream

"Oh, we were going to be heading back anyways" Tails lied, having known that his date was pretty much over at this point

"Finally! Found you!" came the tired voice of a purple hedgehog, clearly out of breath

"SONIC!?" May cried in happiness

"May, that hedgehog is purple... ours is blue" Ben said tiredly

"Damn!" she swore as she kicked the ground

"Uhm... who are you?" Tails asked

"Oh... sorry... little ... out ... of ... breath..." he panted, as he took a few deep breaths and leaned against a tree for support "I'm Venom, and i came down here looking for you Tails" he said

"Oh?" Tails replied, not sure what else to say

"Why would you need Tail's help, Mr. Venom?" Cream chimed in

"Well, Vector told me that he was really good with fixing things" Venom said, pointing to Tails "And i have something that needs to get fixed, and was curious if he could help me"

"Well... i guess i can take a look at it" Tails said earnestly "What is it?" he asked out of curiosity

"It is a radio" Venom said as he took the device out of his backpack. The radio was metallic blue, had a plethora of knobs and dials on it, and had tubes of unnatural colors with liquid flowing through them "I've been trying to fix it for about a month now, but to no avail. But Vector told me you could help... so..." Venom said earnestly

"Uhm... yeah sure, come with us back to the workshop" Tails said tiredly, already knowing this was going to be 'one of those days' for him.

The entire walk back he was being interrogated by May about everthing to do with Sonic, which was a chore Tails was actually part happy to help with. Talking with someone about Sonic for the whole walk actually helped him to feel better about himself, and reminded him how much Sonic meant to him.

"_Maybe having them do an interview with Sonic and stuff won't be such a bad thing, then everyone would know just how awesome he is"_ Tails thought as they showed up to his workshop. He opened up the shop by inserting the code into the panel, and they walked in through the garage.

"Ok, make yourselves at home, i'll go grab the scrapbooks for you" Tails said as he flew off to the main house to find all those albums he had stowed away

"So... Cream was it?" May asked innocently

"Yes Miss May?" she replied

"What is the story between you and Tails?" she asked "You two an item, or what?"

"Well... uhm..." the rabbit tried to reply, her face going ever redder

"Oh don't worry, it was pretty obvious" she said with a laugh

"Ok, i'm back" Tails chimed in, as he flew down with a handful of books. "Be careful with these things, they mean alot to me" he said as he handed them to May and Ben, who begun reading through them with uncanny professionalism.

Venom was off in the corner of the lab, looking around at all the tools and gadgets and devices around him and knew, deep within himself that this was the place to fix the radio, nowhere else in the world would be as perfect for this as here

"So, Venom was it?" Tails asked as he walked up besides him "What is with the strange marking on you? i meant to ask earlier, but those two" Tails said, gesturing to the book club behind him, Cream had now joined them

"Oh... these things" he said solemnly "They are all i really have to remember my parents by" he said, looking at the radioactive symbol on his stomach and the hazard sign on his arm. "People always ask if they are tattoos or not... and they aren't" he said simply

"Well, they are most interesting... but we aren't here to analyze you now are we?" Tails laughed

"Yeah... the radio" Venom said with newfound vigor as he took it out of the backpack again "This needs to be fixed"

"Well place it down on the table over here, won't you" Tails said, and Venom complied. "Well... this is definitely a unique model, if i say so myself. Let us open her up and see what makes her tick" the fox said as he prepared his tools

"Mind if i help?" Venom asked

"Sure, feel free to, it would be nice to have some help" Tails said, as the two of them got to working on the radio

Some time passed, the book club seemed to never want to finish going through those scrapbooks. May would frequently ask questions, and Cream did her best to answer her. Occasionally she wouldn't know, and Tails had to answer instead. But for the most part, he and Venom kept to the radio and slowly worked it back to being functional. When Tail's two way communicator begun to ring

"Excuse me, i have to take this" Tails said as he placed the receiver to his ear and walked to the quiet half of the garage to talk with Knuckles

"What's up Knuckles?" Tails answered

"Everything Tails" he replied simply "The Master Emerald showed me some things you wouldn't believe!" he said incrediously

"Really now..." he replied as he leaned against the wall "Try me"

"Well ok, it sent me a series of images at a incredibly pace... that it took me that last couple hours to straighten them out in my head... and now i'm finally ready to talk about them" he said

"Images you say... sounds serious" Tails said, knowing that anytime the Master Emerald interacts with the corporeal world is typically a serious sign

"Well it showed me you and Cream going to a park, where you'd meet some pair of birds. One is red and blue... the other was like yellow and i think grey. maybe brown..." Knuckles said with some doubt in his voice

"THEN WHAT?" Tails said, unnerved by the accuracy of that statement

"Well... then you'd meet some purple Sonic... who carried some device with him. The emerald kept putting emphasis on the device

"And what happened next?" Tails asked with some fear in his voice, as he looked over to Venom working on the radio

"Well... i mean. doesn't that all see far fetched." Knuckles laughed through his cold sweat "I mean, how many birds do we know? And a purple Sonic, come on!"

"Knuckles... i've met all three of those people you mentioned already... and we are in my lab together... what happens next?" Tails asked, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead

"Well... it showed the two of you, being you and Purple Sonic, working on this device thing. Then you left the view of the emerald... and the device activated..." Knuckles said slowly "You are near the device, right?"

"No...i walked off to answer this call..." Tails said in fear

"Well... that explains why i didn't see you" he said with a forced laugh

"THEN WHAT!?" Tails said, trying to not freak out in his voice

"Well... the room got basked in some unnatural light, and Metal Sonic's face appeared... and that was about it" Knuckles said "What do you think it means?" he asked

"I don't know... but i'm going to look into it. Thanks Knuckles, bye" Tails said, with fear in his voice

"Yeah... anytime... take it safe man" he replied as the line died

"_Ok... calm down Tails.. that could mean anything. Calm down, Calm Down, CaLm DoWn... CAlm doWN..."_ he thought to himself, his mind shaking with fear as he walked back over to Venom

"Hey Tails, i think it is fixed" he said as he pressed the button on the front

As in turn with the prediction, the room was covered in some unnatural light and a voice with it

"GREETINGS TAILS!" the radio boomed with a mechanic voice he had heard before

"METAL SONIC!" he cried out

"Glad you are doing fine, and look... you have friends with you. lovely" the robotic voice replied

"WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" the fox cried out to the device

"You know what, i took that purple hedgehog's parents away... and then threw him this device to see what he would do. I knew he would feverishly work on it, but he lacks the brain to fully 'fix' it, wouldn't you agree?" the machine replied

"WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING!?" Tails yelled back in fear

"Everything, i might add. I knew he'd have to see someone with a working brain to help him.. and that would either be Professor Robotnik, or you... Miles 'Tails' Prower. Either way, it would work in my favor, although i am happy he picked this way." the machine said with a tone of happiness

"Whoa... what does this all mean?" Venom asked

"Yeah... and whose voice is that?" May asked

"Do you know why the hedgehog is named Venom, or why he has all those symbols etched across his body?" the machine replied, ignoring the quesitoned

"Why... why do i?" Venom asked

"Because your toxic" was the simple reply "You can manipulate and control toxins, poisons, venoms, acids... and all types of glorious corrosive materials. You were the unfortunate mistake of your parents, and i wanted to weaponize you... sadly, they sacrificed themselves to save you... then you got away. But i knew this device would find you, as it has your blood flowing through the tubes" the machine laughed

"You mean... that neon green liquid in the tubes..." Venom said, his face flushed

"Yes... your blood. It was given some and sent to find you... then ordered to appear broken to you and slowly affect your mind with a compulsive urge to fix it... and now here we are. All gathered together. The birds, however, were not foreseen... but hostages always work in my favor. Maybe i'll weaponize them for the Glorious Evolution as well" the machine man laughed

"LIKE HELL I'LL LET YOU!" Tails cried out as he flipped the switch to prepare his workshop for defense mode. Nothing happened

"Nice try fox boy, but i already control this workshop. You see... while i have been talking, my matter transporter has been charging up and this device emits EMP to prevent you from stopping this" the machine said calmly

"Wait... stop what?" Tails asked

There was no reply. Instead the room grew brighter beyond reason, forcing Tails to cover his eyes. Then a loud pop happened and the room loss it's light.

Where there were five people standing, there was now no one. Just blackened shadows of where they once stood... and the scrapbooks landed on the floor, with a pile of notes on top of them

_To whomever reads this, _

_I am writing this as quickly as i can, as some mechanic voice is echoing through this room. It laughs at other's misfortune and seems evil in nature. I don't quite know who it is, but Tails called it a 'Metal Sonic'. Regardless of which, i have this sense of dread that i'm not going to be here much longer, as this voice terrifies me. Please... who ever find this, help us. Assuming... we are still alive. if not... run._

_Run. Run far away. This voice sounds how death would sound, if given a voice. _

_- May Kary Young, reporter extraordinaire_

* * *

><p><strong>Oh boy... did that seem like a dark ending? My bad... but in contrast to the last chapter, a pretty happy ending for all. Don't worry, if you are here for Sonic and Amy romance, that comes in the next chapter... as they are going to have a real thrill of a time. <strong>

**On that note, i am always up for a chat, i have Tumblr for people to stalk me on (Name = my pen name . and... on top of that, when & if i ever get around to it, i'll start reaching out more to the community. Its just, i am busy writing something that i feel can be a book... and on top of that, i'm only one man. I can't (unfortunantly) do all this by myself. I wish i could siphon my desire to want to reach out to you people into energy and effort, but that doesn't work as well as i'd like. **

**Final note: This is actually the shortest chapter of the "Mobian Adventure: Freedom" series, to date. And, oddly enough, doesn't have the main cast in it. was the intentional? i don't know.**

**Steven 'ZiGeNaToR" Ziegler**


	12. Commitment

**Author's note:**

**Hey guys... say hello to that madly depressing chapter i promised. Yeah... i had a lot of fun with this one... and i hope you see why. As per usual, i'll leave more words in the bottom note, so... enjoy the story... and then... do things. Review it, send me some mail or whatever. **

* * *

><p><strong>Commitment<strong>

* * *

><p>Sonic walked down the corridor, holding onto Amy's hand the entire time, almost as if he refused to admit to himself that she ever died, and that holding onto her was a way to keep her alive... if not just in his mind.<p>

Lightess, on the other hand, kept reading the floor schematics on her visor, trying to deduce the way out of this estate, as those masked people that dragged them off to the holding cells earlier took some convoluted path and the hedgehogs had no idea of how to get out of the manor from there

"So... Ames, you doing alright?" Sonic asked, keeping his eyes forward in case of an attack

"... it's too late" replied a small voice from Amy

"... Uhm, sorry, what was that?" Sonic asked, as he didn't quite catch what she said

"I said i'm doing alright" she said with a smile

"Good, good, now let's figure a way out of here" he muttered to himself as the identical rooms kept passing them by

"Sonic, these blueprints confused me" Lightess chimed in

"Let me take a looksie" he said with a grin as he walked over to Lightess to look into her little screen and discern the layout for himself

What he saw, instead, was a mouth on the screen and it said in a cold voice "_... Blood... seems... weak ..."_ and fell quite

"WHAT WAS THAT!" Sonic cried out as he shook his head and rubbed his eyes only to look back and see a normal screen with rooms laid out like a floorplan

"... a map, Geez Sonic do you not feel alright?" Lightess asked with concern on her face

"Yeah... i'm good, i'm good" he said, wiping the cold sweat off his face and looking at the screen again to see how to get out of here.

He saw that up ahead there were two doors leading out into areas unmarked by the map, which piqued his interest. He pointed this out to the girls, and they agreed to check out the one to the left while he looked through the right one real quick

"Okee dokey, let us take a quick peek" he said to himself as he turned the handle and opened the door, steadying his breathing from the shock he received a couple seconds ago...

"_i mean, come on, it is probably just stress... i mean, you did just kill someone..."_ he argued to himself, as the room was shown ahead of him

He saw the dismembered corpse of his girlfriend in the corner, lying in the corner in a pile of blood. A horrifying look on her face stared back at him, soulless as it was intimidating. But as he stared back it, the mouth moved

"_Brain... activity, seems..."_ it muttered aloud in a cold tone of pure monotony before the head rolled off it's shoulders and fell to the floor. Where it splashed into water, much like a water droplet would. The entire corpse then transformed into a mass of liquid and quickly covered the circumference of the room's floor in it's wet residue

"What... was... that?" Sonic managed to say, his hand shaking as it still held onto the doorknob, his eyes stuck staring at where the corpse once was and his chest heaving in shuttered breaths

"_That, in case you're curious, was a hallucination"_ the voice chimed back in his head, in the usual arrogant tone

"THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM HERE!" Sonic shouted at the voice "The problem is WHY! WHY am i seeing hallucinations!" he cried out, not even trying to make it sound like a question but more as a demand

"_Now, that is an interesting question... typically only nutjobs and whackos can see this kind of stuff... Sonic, are you feeling alright?" _the voice asked in sadistic glee

"Yes damnit, yes!" he replied curtly, not wishing to converse with his unwanted guest longer than he would have to

"_I wouldn't be so sure"_ the voice replied in a sing-song voice as it echoed into the far recesses of his mind

"WAIT! TELL ME!" Sonic cried out to it, demanding answers, to which no reply was given

He looked into the room once more, to see that the entire room had changed while he was arguing with himself, and now he was looking at Tail's workshop. The Tornado was sitting off in the corner, looking the same as always. Tails was off to the side working at his bench, wearing a welder's mask as he had a torch in his hand and was sending a shower of sparks up as he was clearly working on something

"... Tails?" Sonic asked meekly, not sure what to believe anymore

The figure turned around to face him, making no attempt to remove the welder's mask. It turned off the torch and placed it down on the bench

"... conscious thought... soon" it replied in the same cold and methodical tone as his last two hallucinations, and then the welder rushed at Sonic with an axe

"WHOA! Where'd you get the axe, buddy!?" Sonic cried out as he slammed the door shut and rolled back into the hallway, hitting against the wall behind him

"Did you see anything Sonic?" Amy asked, as she walked over to him

"... uhm... nope... just a normal storage room. How about your side?" he asked, as he smiled fakely while calming his own breathing down and wiping the cold sweat off his face as nonchalantly as possible

"Just an empty room" she said with a tone of boredom in her voice "I can see why that wouldn't be on the map"

"Guys, the stairwell is over here" Lightess called out from around the bend in the hallway

"Goodie, now we can get out" Sonic said, never happier to leave somewhere in his life

He grabbed Amy's hand and lead her down the hallway. He was hopeful that this would lead to the way out, as he didn't know how much more of this psychological torture he could take

Amy's hand melted in his hand, and he looked back to see a reflection of himself. His reflection took it's hand up to it's mouth and placed one finger over the lips, as if to tell Sonic to be quiet, as it pointed up

Curiousness overpowered the hedgehog, as he looked up. What he saw was some unearthly figure dressed in a white bed sheet. Red stains adorned the area of where the mouth would of been, and some red liquid dripped from where hands would of been, splashing against the ceiling. The creature looked at Sonic, and cocked its head

"... amazing ... so much ... potential" the cold voice said, with a tinge of excitement at the edge

"What are you, and why do i keep hearing that voice!?" Sonic cried back in confusion, holding his head

"_Why Sonic, losing your cool are we?"_ his old 'friend' the-voice-in-his-head replied

"SHUT UP!" he cried at the voice, as he fell to his knees holding his head, looking up at the robed figure in front of him

The figure moved it's left appendage up from it's side and gestured to the hedgehog, the crimson liquid dripping to the floor in methodic drips. From the pool of crimson rose the dismembered head of Amy Rose. The head looked up at him and mouthed something at him

"... Amy?" Sonic said quietly, tears forming around his eyes "Ames... that you?" he asked, his voice now trembling

"..._up"_ the head said quietly, as the crimson fluid started to roll down it's eyes, almost like tears

"Ames... please... tell me you're alright" Sonic managed, his voice cracking and tears of his own starting to fall off his ducts

"_Wake... up"_ the head said coldly

***ZAP***

"WHA!?" Sonic cried out, as he tried to flinch awake only to feel the cold steel wrapped around his arms and legs refusing to let his body curl up in response to the shock

"Finally the sleeping princess awakes" muttered a familiar voice

Sonic's eyes slowly adjusted to the dim lighting in the room, and he looked around to see a messy collection of beakers and vials. A couple of chemicals were moving through tubes near him, and slowly being collected by some type of large beaker

He redirected his gaze to his limbs, to see that he was held to some type of operating table by manacles around his arms and a steel beam around each leg. Whomever this mystery person was, (as Sonic couldn't tell as he or she was standing off in the shadows) they certainly didn't want him escaping anytime soon... which was a bother

"Mind telling me who you are, Doc?" Sonic said, trying to sound a lot braver than he actually was

"Oh but Sonic... we finished introductions not too long ago, remember?" the voice replied, clearly a male's

"... hold on... you sound familiar..." Sonic said slowly, racking his brain to remember

"I mean, i had to use a special poison to slow you down... and that wasn't even working... so i switched to a hallucinatory drug... and you got plenty of exposure. And then the nerve destroying chemicals in the air only sped up the process of this... and you passed out shortly there after..." the voice said calmly

"IZZET!" Sonic cried out, again trying to get up but the restraints held him in place "WHY?"

"Why?" Izzet teased, as he walked out of the shadow "Why indeed... i could've killed you there, but after fighting someone like yourself, someone i could've lost to... i had to see what made you tick" he grinned sadistically

"Like hell i'd let you" Sonic replied venomously

"Oh... i thought you'd say that, even after you realize the situation" Izzet replied calmly as he took a knife from the table and twirled it between his fingers "Remember the insurance policy i took before the fight even started?" he asked with a malicious gleam in his eye

"The girls!" Sonic replied angrily "Are they alright?"

"Depends if you are a good boy or not" the general replied

"..." Sonic exhaled as he thought about Amy and Lightess, then he came to terms with himself "Fine... do what you will. Just promise me their safety" he said defeatedly

"Oh goodie" the general said as he clapped his hands and jumped up and down like a kid "Do i have a game for you!"

"Am i going to like the rules?" Sonic replied apathetically, convinced this was a drawn out death for him

"I sure hope so, this game always brings a smile to my face" Izzet said as he grabbed a scalpel and twirled it quickly between his fingers

"I was meaning to ask during the fight, but who trained you?" Sonic asked

"Oh... now that is a long story, and i sort of want to get started..." Izzet said, making his way over to the restrained Sonic

"I got time, i'm not going anywhere" Sonic said, lazily gesturing by trying to move his arms against the shackles

"Well... let's talk while i work" Izzet agreed "Before i start though, have you ever heard of of a 'vivisection'?"

"Can't say i have" Sonic replied, with a tinge of nervousness in his voice

"Well... it just so happens to be essentially an autopsy... but on a living being" Izzet replied lazily, moving the scalpel closer to Sonic's chest "Thankfully, i am well trained in this field, so you shouldn't feel a thing"

"WAIT THERE, STOP!" Sonic cried out, again trying to move his arms but the damned shackles stopped him

"Too late, I already have you opened" Izzet said nonchalantly, and sure enough Sonic looked down and saw his exposed chest cavity, he quickly looked away and stared at the ceiling, as he was getting squeamish

"Not a fan of anatomy, eh?" Izzet said openly as he started his work

"Not so much, even less so of my own body" Sonic said quietly amazed at how quickly this fox opened up his abdomen

"Don't worry, you're under so much anesthetic that i doubt you'd feel anything, even if i punched you in the heart" Izzet laughed as Sonic could hear his organs working

"So... about that story time" Sonic asked, wanting to take his mind off this torture

"Oh right, where i learned to fight... and i guess, while i'm at it, where i learned to do this... as the stories coincide"

"Do they now?" the hedgehog asked, curious

"Yeah, funny how that works, right?" the fox said mirthfully "oh boy, that isn't suppose to be like that" he then muttered as he repositioned something in Sonic

"What was that" Sonic asked

"Oh, your lungs just seemed to be a little over extended, i helped fix that... should help your breathing" Izzet replied

"...oh... thanks?" Sonic replied, confused at why his enemy was helping him

"oh its nothing" Izzet replied with methodical laziness "now about me, let see... where to start" he hummed to himself while switching between a plethora of tools at his nearby workbench so that he could better operate on the hedgehog

"Ok, that sounds good" the fox said to himself "i was born about thirty years ago, in this very town actually. My parents were both engineers, working their way to find someway to harness the energy in the sun to power the whole city... think, solar panels, but ... grander" he said as the accompanying sounds of Sonic's innards squished

"Alright... sound normal" Sonic groaned back, trying to not think about his condition

"Well... that was the cover. Truthfully, they were working on augmenting bodies so they would be better suited for war... but hell, if you could power the prosthetics through the sun as well, i guess that is still a win" he laughed

"... right?" the hedgehog muttered

"So years passed obviously, i was raised and trained in a prestigious academy... learning how to be an assassin... as i got inspired by books. i never really thought i'd be able to fight on the front lines, but the concept of striking through the shadows intrigued me..." he said slowly as blood shot up at his face "but, goodness me. I didn't seem capable of being stealthy enough... i had some lustful behaviour to wanting to leap into the fray of battle once i saw the guards..."

"... you don't say?" Sonic emotionlessly said

"yep, so my parents decided to feed this addiction. They put me in a similar position you are in, and operated on me. removing organs, altering existing ones, and adding machines all throughout me." he said coldly "obviously i was against it, but once i learned at justr how much i was augmented, i lost my will to complain" he laughed

"so they made their son into a monster?" Sonic retorted

"correction: the most powerful monster ever crafted from an organic host" he bragged "but this came at a cost, as all stories of power seem to have" he reminced

"do go on" Sonic said, now curious

"After showcasing the ability i had, such as strength and speed, as well as calculated accuracy and split second reaction time... i caught the eye of many a group... including some that wished to have me removed... so in a night raid, they sent a squad of highly trained assassins to put me out of commission..." Izzet said warmly, as if the memory was pleasent

"And let me guess, you killed them all without mercy" Sonic filled in the blank

"Yeah" he smiled "But little did i know that was the distraction, as some incredibly amazing assassin snuck past me and our families defenses and took out my parents without even a trace." he said proudly, as though he admired this assassin "i mean, we couldn't even tell how he killed mom and dad, as there were no wounds or anything"

"Sounds scary" Sonic muttered, his organs beating in agreeance

"I was enthralled, someone managed this... some assassin managed this. I had to know more, namely who this was, so i rushed out into our property using my cybernetic eyes to hopefully find my target. Do you want to know where he was?" Izzet asked

"Sure, why not" Sonic agreed, not really in a position to say no

'The man was standing right outside our estate, under a streetlamp... injecting himself with some type of chemical, i don't know what. But i found him, and that was all i cared about. so i rushed at him to engage, as i may or may not of been a little 'blinded-by-rage' at that moment" he laughed innocently

"And did he live?" Sonic asked

"More than that, he bested me in combat. I charged at him, my eyes and mental processor already working the best form of attacking... and he simply parried my attack and rolled behind me. The more i engaged, the more he disengaged. never once seeming to have difficulty. I mean, HELL! during the fight he managed to roll his own smoke, all while evading my attacks. he then lit it, and begun smoking, coughing violently after each take... sometimes coughing up a torrent of blood" Izzet said with a laugh

"Sounds like someone about to die" Sonic remarked, amazed at someone evading this fox with so much ease, whereas Sonic had to go above and beyond his normal abilities to even avoid what he did

"So during the fight i tried to squeeze some answers out of him, such as name and who he worked for, instead he told me that he hated smoking" Izzet laughed "I mean, can you believe this!? This man is lazily dodging me, smoking something that is forcing him to cough up torrents of blood, and he is telling me that smoking sucks... i just couldn't believe it... i WANTED to kill him" Izzet said with a sadistic tone

"Did you?" Sonic asked

"No... the blood he was coughing turned out to be his ace in the hole. Soon where we were fighting was splattered in blood, and he used some magic or something to make the blood jump at me like little daggers. They hit me, for the most part, and made it so i couldn't continue fighting. But i NEEDED to kill this man" Izzet said, trying to express his feelings in his tone

"I understand that much, but... .blood daggers?" Sonic asked

"Right... he got on one knee in front of me, and looked at me with his mismatched eyes and asked me a simple question" Izzet remeinced

"What was the question?" Sonic inquired

"Do you want to live?" Izzet replied maliciously

"Brutal" Sonic said

"Right!?" Izzet agreed "I mean, of course i did... but at that moment i only wanted to exist to exact revenge for the death of my family" Izzet laughed "When said that, he patted my head and told me to follow him"

"Seriously!?" Sonic cried out, his organs squishing with the exhament from his lungs

"So... i did" Izzet smiled "This man bested not only me, a highly trained soldier in close quarter combat... but also a cutting edge experiment in the artificial enhancement program, supposedly the most lethal thing to ever engage in close quarters... EVER!" Izzet bragged "And he beat me without even showing a single moment of difficulty... i mean, hell... he may of beat me in combat... but he murdered by ego at that moment. i needed to figure out who he was and how he managed all that" Izzet said simply

"So, because you lost so bad, you wanted to know why?" Sonic summarized

"Basically" Izzet said "so i followed, and we ended at some abandoned warehouse... beakers were up and going, chemicals were bubbling and you know... the whole lab vibe" the fox smiled "I asked, and he told me he was an 'Alchemist'... and i could only stare back"

"yeah... aren't those guys long dead?" Sonic asked

"That was my thoughts" the fox said "But he said he was, and i had no reason to doubt him... he then explained to me that he chose to spare me because he felt he needed me to alter the future,, and at the time i had no idea what that meant" Izzet grinned

"... k?" the hedgehog sighed, as he had started to count his heart beats

"He quickly trained me in some rudimentary alchemy, you know, a couple of potions and poultices that i could use... things to enhance my reaction time, clean out my organs and patch up wounds... things i thought were useless to know... or at least, at that time those were my thoughts" Izzet muttered

"But sure enough, that knowledge proved invaluable to me, as when i got drafted into the war later on, that knowledge helped me to curb so many casualties in my unit, and gave me a ridiculous amount of promotions, eventually landing me my position here as general" he laughed "can you believe that, some random stranger who killed my family gave me the formulas needed to move my rank all the way up to general, and it wasn't even out of pity, but for some plan he had!" Izzet laughed

"Seems far-fetched" Sonic said

"THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT!" Izzet cried out in laughter "But, that was what happened. He also taught me how to attack by using the shadows to gauge the enemies movement, rather than them... which turned out to be much more reliable than even these computers in my brain... so yes... he even taught me how to fight more efficently... again, for his own reasons" the fox said as he started to stich Sonic back up

"Oh, we almost done?" Sonic asked

"Sorta" Izzet replied "So... after all this, i asked why he taught me all that... and he said that he had a spikey blue-hair friend that was going to need some help from me down the road, and that this knowledge would prove invaluable in Mobian history" Izzet said "So from that point on, i kept my eye opened for any blue-haired person i came across, ESPICALLY if they were of a spikey quality" the fox claimed

"Little did i know, he would mean you!" he laughed "I mean, at first i wanted to challenge this person to a fight, to see why this stranger valued you above me... but as i aged on, i decided to help you when the time came... years passed and i thought i would never see you, and that you were just the mad ramblings of some senile stranger" Izzet said apologetically

"... really? He told you to help me several years ago?" Sonic said, amazed

"Yeah, about... twenty-three years ago" Izzet said "So when Metal Sonic came to me for help, i assumed that he was you... and helped him do what he did... after learning that this wasn't the right one, i decided to make amends by helping the right one a little more than i originally planned" the fox said

"Wait.. how did you help him?" Sonic asked

"I sorta... well... lead his squads for awhile... we won the war so quickly because of me" Izzet muttered, a tone of bragging in there "But i want to make amends, and do that cat his favor correctly, as i owe him so much" the fox said sentimentally

"Cat?" Sonic said

"Yeah, he was a cat" Izzet said "And he trained me for awhile, eventually i started to see him as a new father-figure... so ... i guess i still have a heart, much like this thing" he said as he poked Sonic's heart causing a stream of blood to shoot up "Whoops, little much... lets finish this stitching" he muttered to himself

"Ok? And so how are you helping me?" Sonic asked, out of curiosity

"Well... two folded, actually" Izzet said with a smile "Phase one, i just finished fixing your body up to where it should've been. When you were mutated by Metal Sonic's laser, and Amy got affected by it, there were some changes to your anatomy... Later on i can tell you were operated on with the hopes of bringing out the full swath of these changes" Izzet said

"Oh... back in the warehouse" Sonic said, remembering being knocked out by that damn monkey

"But it seems that he couldn't bring out the full chances without a little help, so i did what he meant to do.. or at least, i will in a sec... this is going to hurt like no tomorrow" Izzet said as he walked over to some metal rod

"Whoa, what is that" Sonic said, staring at the rod

"This, is a tesla rod... it holds a significant charge of electricity, and applied in the right circumstances, it can completely melt the interior of a person's body in a matter of seconds" Izzet said calmly "And now i'm going to stab you in the chest with it, and that should activate the final changes" he said

"And if not?" Sonic said in fear

"Well, you lived a good life, right?" the fox smiled as he brought the rod to Sonic's chest

"NOOOOOOOOOoooo-" Sonic tried to cry out as the rod touched him. Electrical ampage surged through his body, causing him to convulse and shake uncontrollably in the straps. After what seemed like days, he finally stopped shaking and lied there breathing heavily

"Seems it worked" Izzet smiled, placing the rod back on the workbench

"...wh... wha-... what was that?" Sonic said between deep breaths

"That was your body FINALLY becoming active" the fox said

"Active?" he asked back

"Yes, now you should be at your full performance power. you should be able to move faster, react faster, and hopefully have more power" Izzet said "This, is what 'he' wanted you to achieve" Izzet said

"Did you ever learn his name?" Sonic asked

"Yeah... on our last day together i asked him, and he looked at me mournfully, with eyes that must of seen countless people he had loved die before him, and told me in a tone almost inaudible... 'Thoice'..." Izzet said as a tear rolled down his cheek

"WHAT!?" Sonic cried out, electricity surging from him and breaking the chains off his legs and arms, and he leapt off the bench and pushed Izzet in the chest "THOICE WAS YOUR TRAINER!" Sonic cried out

"Well.. yeah... who else could've been that skilled?" Izzet said simply

"... i mean... what ... the ... SON-ofa ..." Sonic muttered as he paced around the operating table, completely oblivious to the electrical attack he just used

"Seems you have new power though" Izzet smiled

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, the electricity was cool and all... but THOICE! Why would he train you, and then send me on this dumb quest to be crushed by you!" Sonic cried out in anguish

"Who knows how he thinks" Izzet said calmly "but that was what he wanted me to do... at least in phase one..." Izzet said

"THE GIRLS!" Sonic said as he turned around, electricity crackling off of him "Are they alright!?" he threatend

"Yep. They were sent to a wonderful lounge and asked to wait while you took care of a meeting" Izzet replied with no fear in his voice "I promise you no harm came to them"

"Good" Sonic said, the electricity subsiding within him. He could feel the amperage swarming through his body... it was almost like the feeling of adrenaline that he was so accustomed to, but... it had some weird feeling to it... something he couldn't describe. That, and he was a little pre-occupied dealing with General Izzet here

"Now... as for phase two" Izzet said simply

"Shut up for a second, i'm not done question you" Sonic said, looking back at the general

"Alright, fair enough, ask away. i have no secrets" the fox smiled as he stood at attention

"How did you manage to help me under Metal Sonic's rule" Sonic asked

"The generals are given a little bit of breathing room from that metal sociopath, so we are free to take up our own hobbies and act in our own way within our 'kingdom' and such" he replied

"Why haven't you betrayed him yet?" Sonic asked

"My orders were to assist you, from Thoice. And my orders were to maintain this city under all costs, from Metal Sonic. I only had one master to obey, so the metal looney was disregarded." he replied again, with no fear

"Alright, fair enough. Damn it" he cursed, punching the operating table, causing sparks to shoot up "Why are you so damn likable!"

"I have a pretty easy personality to get along with" Izzet teased

"I wish you could come with us" Sonic said simply

"So do i, but that isn't possible" the fox replied

"And why is that" the hedgehog asked back

"To keep some level of loyalty to him, and to assure toppling the metal overlord would be difficult... he set up a contingency plan within his generals" Izzet said with a smile

"... ok, and that would be?" Sonic asked

"We all have some special type of implant on our heart... it serves as a measure of knowing whether or not we are alive, as a tracker so he knows where we are at all times, and finally part of a seven part barrier that powers his facility" Izzet smiled

"barrier?" Sonic asked

"Yes, he has an impregnable forcefield over his fortress, and the barrier is charged through seven massive towers. Each tower is connected to one of his generals, only to keep alive for as long as we are... as it needs a strong living person to stay alive... the science for this is something i can't explain, as not even Metal Sonic is entirely sure" Izzet said

"... so, in order to get into the fortress..." Sonic started to say

"... you need to kill me" Izzet finished

The weight of those words hit Sonic like a freight train. I mean, sure he was just bested in combat by this guy, then operated on by him... but it was all for the greater good. Plus Sonic wanted Izzet to be on his side, he seemed like a powerful ally... but to kill him... seemed exessive

"And before you say it, no we can't just stop my heart and then restart me... trust me, there are failsafe manuvers. For starters, i have to be dead for about seventy-two hours before the tower powers down... good luck stopping my heart that long and bringing me back" Izzet laughed "Furthermore, if you were somehow capable of that, when my heart restarted, so would the tower. And no, we can't just removed the implant... these implants are more of our heart, than the heart actually is. We have gotten to a point where we can't live without them" Izzet smiled happily as he finished his little speech

"So... my only way to stop Metal Sonic is to kill you..." Sonic said slowly

"Correct" Izzet said

"And... not doing this would cause in our lose" Sonics said

"Again, correct" the fox said

"... can you come with us and help me stop the other five, and then we kill you last?" Sonic said, not liking how that was even an option

"Nope. if i leave the city then Metal Sonic will just flip the switch and kill me from where he is" Izzet grinned

"So... my only choice is to kill you" Sonic said

"yessir, stone cold dead" Izzet replied

"_Come on panzy, do it... do it and shock this loser. I mean, look at him. He is a lacky of Metal Sonic, too damn scared to even leave this city"_ the voice chimed in his head

"So... i guess... the right thing... is to kill ... you?" Sonic said, almost as a question to himself if not to anyone else in the room

"Pretty much. Didn't Thoice tell you that to win this war you are going to have to make sacrifices" Izzet said "All generals know that you can't have all your troops come home in once piece. Some just have to die, that is war. And i am no exception. My death though will pave the way to a brighter tomorrow." Izzet said

"WHY ARE YOU SO DAMN CALM!" Sonic yelled, electricity crackling through the air again

"Cause i've had several years to think about it, i've long since been ready for this moment" Izzet said "Furthermore, i'm a soldier. All soldiers are ready to die on a moments notice, i sure hope you learn that"

"But... still... i'm the 'hero' shouldn't that mean i can save everyone!?" Sonic cried out in anguish

"_Yeah, what kind of lame hero are you?"_ the voice mocked

"You can save everyone, just not me" Izzet grinned "Remember, you are fighting for you friends right? Last i checked, we aren't friends. We are on opposite sides of this war, in any other battlefield i one of us would've killed the other by now, right?" Izzet argued

"... well... yes... but still!" Sonic tried to say as Izzet put up his hand

"Look, we can argue all day if you want, but you are on the clock soldier. Now kill me, then take the map that i placed on my workbench" he said, pointing at a rolled up piece of parchment with a note next to it "find the girls, get out and stop the other five." Izzet said calmly

"But... why?" Sonic said hopelessly "Why do i have to kill someone so damn awesome!" Sonic said

Izzet laughed "Awesome? Me? Sonic, i've never once been called that, not once. My parents frequently called me negative names, as they had no respect for me until i was part machine... and even then, only as a guinea pig. The military wanted to see me lose, so that my ego would finally die... the only person who ever said a kind word to me was Thoice, and now... you" Izzet said as he wiped a tear away from his eye

"But... still... you could of been of so much help in this war!" Sonic said "I don't want to kill you"

"Tough man, i can't commit suicide for you. Not for really any reason, i just can't besmirch myself that way. There is no honor in that death, surely you understand that" Izzet said

"But... to kill you" Sonic said, trying to calm his nerves

"Yep... and if it wouldn't be too much trouble, can you use your new lightning powers on me. One, i was kind of curious what death by shock would be like as it was a sort of special interest of mine. and two, you could use the target practice" Izzet smiled

"Just give me a second to get ready" Sonic said calmly, trying to find a way to save this fox

"Sure, but please do hurry up. A recon team might be on their way, and i would like you out of the town before that happens" Izzet said

"Really? Putting your people first even now?" Sonic admirred

"What can i say, i'm a big softie" Izzet laughed

"Can i really do this?" Sonic asked himself

"_Why not? Shock him... oh, oh, oh! make sure you make it dramatic though. Got to say something memorable... like... 'Fool! You have failed me for that last time!"_ the voice said energetically

"Shut up you, this is a man's life we are talking about" Sonic replied

"_Man? he is almost a robot, you are doing IT a favor"_ the voice said venomously

"I'd love to shock you away though..." Sonic muttered

After a few moments to himself he turned back to Izzet, who was just standing at attention, seemingly unphased by how long it took Sonic to decide

"So, what is my sentence?" Izzet teased, lightening the mood

"General Izzet, you are found guilty of assisting the rebellion faction" Sonic replied, trying to smile but tears were forming under his eyes

"I plead guilty" Izzet smiled back

"Your execution shall... be ... done by ... electrocution" Sonic said between tears

"I look forward to seeing you on the other side" Izzet said as he saluted Sonic with a smile on his face

Sonic turned away and channeled his electricity into his hands. He founds it hard to do without the right emotion, as his angry self proved earlier... but he managed. The bolts shot from his hand and he heard it hit Izzet... a loud thud and the smell of burnt flesh... at that moment, Sonic fell sick and fell to his knees throwing up

"Why! WHY! WHY!" Sonic said between heaves, the tears freely flowing "He was... such a ... wonderful... person" Sonic said, having regretted what he did ever since Izzet told him that he must die

"_You want popcorn, is that just me?"_ the voice chimed

Sonic ignored it and sat in fetal position, rocking himself back and forth trying to calm himself down from what he had just done. The electricity mindlessly hummed around him, almost creating a white sound to calm him, at the moment he couldn't really appreciate the currents attempt to calm him

After a couple of minutes of self loathing, he got up and avoided as hard as he could at looking at Izzet's body, as he walked over to the map and saw the note next to it. The note read,

'Dear Sonic,

Yeah, i'm dead... good work there. I'm sorry i had to put you through all that, but sometimes an event like this is needed to help the hero realize why he is fighting again. I mean, as much as "i fight for friends" means, it has no weight until they experience the full load dropped on their shoulders. My death is the first of many your hands will commit, especially with your new found power. I just hope you don't lose yourself to the power, and use it for good. I believe in you, for whatever reason. Thoice told me when i was a kid to keep your heart open to kindness, and others will find you. When i met you, i knew we could of been best friends in either other reality... that much is true. But... sadly, not this one. But remember my death, and stop Mobius from turning into what hell that metal sociopath wishes it to become. I have complete faith in you and your friends, so please... don't fail me.

- Izzet"

Sonic couldn't help but cry, the letter was just so damn moving for him. He wanted to turn and see his fallen friend, but he just couldn't face him. The death felt shallow and cheap, as though it was part of Metal Sonic's plan all along to weaken Sonic through this.

"Metal, i swear to whatever i must swear to, i will kill you" Sonic cursed under his breath as he grabbed the map and left the room, refusing to even look at his fallen brother-in-arms, someone he felt was robbed his life. For his life, Sonic would make Metal atone, and possibly more lives will be added in... Sonic was ready for this. He finally had the courage and drive he felt he was missing, as he never wanted to see a friend he cared about die like that in front of him EVER again. this was now a personal war, something he couldn't just dismiss anymore as a simple adventure

After a couple of minutes reading the map, he found the girls, greeted them simply and lead them out of the town. He gave the map to Lightess, and they begun their journey to the next city... but Sonic felt he had one last thing to do.

"Ames, Lightess. Go on ahead. i'll catch up, i have one little thing to do" Sonic said

"uh,... alright?" Amy replied, and walked with Lightess, slowly and concerned

Sonic used his fast speed to run to a nearby open field, he quickly dug up a small hole and buried the note. Then he ran into the town and broke off a piece of cement and shaped it as a headstone, ran to the hole he had dug and placed it at the head. He carved into it using his lightning powers,

"General Izzet.

A man for the people, by the people, and missed by the people"

"Izzet, in any other reality, you are right... we could of been best buds... i'm sorry man. I will avenge you, believe me as much as your note did. Please" Sonic prayed as he then ran off to meet with the girls

~As he left the clearing, a mysterious figure walked into the clearing and dug up the grave...~

* * *

><p><strong>So, that chapter is over, and now we can move on from the Ocelot Manor. But... are we really leaving it behind? I don't know, i really don't. This story just organically comes to me as i write, so who knows. <strong>

**Anywhoodle, people wanted to keep in touch with me, so i made a Tumblr, although right now i treat it more as a mindless blog. But it is still reliable if you want to send me questions and such. I'll put that link on my profile page. Furthermore, i want to thank you guys for waiting. i know these chapters take forever to come out, and i don't really have a good excuse. i'm just lazy. I hope to do about two more before the year is over, but we will see. **

**Anyways, what did you think about the chapter, and such. Feel free to link me, send me love, and reviews. I'm open to all kinds of questions, and i might even answer a few spoilers if you ask nicely enough. D**

**As always**

**Steven 'ZiGeNaToR' Ziegler**


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